Ahead of Remembrance Day, one high school in North Bay is paying its respects to the hundreds of former students who went overseas to fight during the Second World War and the nearly three dozen who didn’t make it home. A Remembrance Day assembly was held at the school on Tuesday morning to reflect on the group known as the ‘Scollard 31.’ During the Second World War, 352 young men from the original Scollard Hall volunteered for military service to push back against the Nazis’ reign of terror. Tragically, 31 never made it back and they now rest in military cemeteries far from home. They’re known as the Scollard 31 and they will be remembered for eternity. “Pat Devine (one of the Scollard 31) is actually my great uncle by marriage,” said high school music teacher Brian Overholt. “He was a hockey player and a student-athlete in cross-country and track and field. Every time they say his name, it chokes me up.” During the assembly, as their names were read out, you could hear a pin drop in the gym. “They were 17, 18, 19 years old, the same age as us. We’re struggling to figure out where we’re going for university, with exams and tests, that sort of thing,” said Grade 12 student Corin Standing. “They were all over the place in Europe.” Lt. Col. Stephen Buckley, 22 Wing Canadian Forces Base’s 21 Aerospace Control and Warning Squadron commanding officer, told students that there are two key parts to Remembrance Day: reflection and self-actualization. “As John McCrea says, ‘To you from failing hands, we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high,’’ Buckley said. “It is our duty to be the best person and the best Canadian that we can be.” During the assembly, students used their talents through songs, dance and the playing of O Canada by the Bears marching band. In 2022, a statue of the Virgin Mary and a plaque were erected in the school’s courtyard to replace the original statue commissioned by the mothers of the Scollard 31 that was lost during school reconstruction. “We’re starting to lose that generation that came after the generation that fought in World War 2 and it’s really important to honour that with our new students,” Standing said. It’s an important lesson and moment in the country and the school’s history these students are learning about. “It’s really neat to see that their memory and their sacrifice haven’t been forgotten,” Buckley said.
