West Vancouver's Remembrance Day Traditions On November 11, the people of West Vancouver gather at Memorial Park.  We come together in a time of peace to remember, to mourn and to recognize those who gave their lives in times of war. The Royal Canadian Legion (West Vancouver Branch 60) conducts other annual ceremonies in November to remember the fallen. Every year prior to November 11 white crosses - 1310 this year - are placed on the graves of Veterans at Capilano View cemetery, this year by students from West Vancouver Secondary and Collingwood schools. The crosses are made by students at the high school woodworking shop. Legion members painted the crosses and added the poppies. Every year, on the Sunday before November 11, the Legion conducts a Service of Remembrance with a Colour Guard and Piper to honour the fallen and the Veterans who served and who rest at Capilano View. This year, a new tradition began. On the day of the Remembrance Service, the first of 22 headstones was placed on the unmarked grave of a Veteran interred at the cemetery. Our local branch of the Legion is participating in the Unmarked Grave Program, supported by the Last Post Fund at Veterans Affairs. The program serves Veterans whose graves are without a permanent headstone or foot marker, and who have not previously received funeral and burial funding. For details about the program and about our Legion, please get in touch with Pat Morton, a past president of the West Vancouver Legion at 604.922.3587.

Join marine archeologist Chris Amer on a visual tour of West Vancouver’s foreshore waters and an exploration of the myriad ways we have devised to enjoy, explore, exploit and protect our local waters over time. Local Voices: Maritime Archeology & West Vancouver, Wednesday May 10 @ 6 pm / West Vancouver Memorial Library Seating is limited at Welsh Hall.   Please click here to reserve your seat(s).   This talk will be recorded and posted on the West Vancouver Historical Society’s YouTube channel.  Get in touch at wvhs@shaw.ca to be notified when the talk has been posted.   Local Voices celebrates our community, as it was and as it is, in the words of the people who live here. We have arrived at the fourth and final presentation in the current series, Local Voices: Local History. Should you wish to be notified when Local Voices returns, please let us know at wvhs@shaw.ca.

Join Rod Day for a look into his memoir Inside West Vancouver, an insider’s view of the people, politics, and planning that have helped shape West Vancouver.