This rural community is home to the oldest cenotaph in Nova Scotia

A Remembrance Day ceremony was held at Nova Scotia’s oldest cenotaph in New Ross.

The cenotaph in New Ross, N.S., has served as a gathering place to remembering those who gave their lives for freedom since it was built in 1917.

“He was in World War One and World War Two and when he came home and he saw that there was no Legion, he made sure there was one,” says Dianne Asprey, referring to her grandfather Howard Keddy, who is memorialized on one of the many banners that hang around New Ross. “I am 81 years old and every year it seems like I want to cry.”

“The cenotaph is the oldest cenotaph in the province,” says legion president Janet Walker.

Every Nov. 11, families congregate to recognize the sacrifices of those who came before them.

“If you look at the names like Keddy, Walker, Ladder, yes, their relatives are still here,” Walker says. “It brings everybody together, it’s community spirit and it’s remembering our veterans.”

Ron Langevin was one of the veterans on hand Tuesday.

“I have 34 years in the military. I started off in the 2 RCR in Gagetown from ’75 until ’81 and then I did an occupational transfer to the Air Force where I spent 29 years as a search and rescue technician,” Langevin says.

“I can remember I was off of Newfoundland and the whole town was actually on the cliffs, watching us do a rescue and a vessel had lost steerage and they were running out of fuel and it was about a sea-state eight, which means the waves were probably around 90 feet high. We came in with the Buffalo and I was able to drop them a life raft.”

Another memorable moment for Langevin was a helicopter crash in British Columbia.

“We were recovering people from a glacier and we lost an engine and we rolled 500 feet down the side of a mountain and then later on our helicopter came in and picked us all up,” Langevin says. “We had different people injured, we lost one of our teammates and a number of people had very severe injuries.”

Langevin, who suffered damage to his shoulder and back, is one of hundreds who come out every year to the cenotaph to remember those from this small community.

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