Students honour veterans

by · Castanet
Ben Low-On

Students at J.W. Inglis Elementary gathered at the Lumby Cemetery on Monday to honour the gravesites of fallen veterans.

In a Remembrance day ceremony put on by No Stone Left Alone, 115 Lumby men and women who have served the country were honoured.

Students were also able to pay a visit to each grave and put a red poppy on the headstone.

“It's just a wonderful thing for us to be able to do with the students and to remember the sacrifices that these veterans made for our country,” said North Okanagan coordinator, Lawrna Myers.

No Stone Left Alone was started when founder Maureen Purvis was visiting graves with her daughters at the Beechmount Cemetery in Edmonton.

“One year, when she took her daughters out there to do it. The daughter said, why don't we put poppies on all of the veteran's graves? And so that started,” said Myers.

In 2023, No Stone Left Alone held ceremonies in every province, as well as in nine different countries.

The non-profit will be hosting ceremonies for various schools in Vernon and Coldstream until Thursday.

In total, about 500 students from the North Okanagan will place about 1,500 poppies on military gravesites in the region. Students are accompanied by volunteers from Royal Canadian Legion Branches 25 (Vernon), 35 (Armstrong), and 167 (Lumby), as well as the Vernon Lions, Lumby Lions, and the British Columbia Dragoons.