On Nov. 11, 1918, 100 years after the end of World War 1, crowds gathered from far and wide in towns and cities to pay their respects and honor the fallen soldiers of wars that have gone on before.

In Rimbey, the crowd filled all the chairs and lined the walls for the Remembrance Day Service held at the Peter Lougheed Community Centre.

At the beginning of the service, the color party brought in the colours and Cadet Dylan Jeffcott played Last Post on the bugle which was followed by two minutes of silence.

Master of ceremonies, Tyler Hagel then gave a brief, but heartfelt message.

World War 1 was the catalyst for many events, he noted, adding health care, income tax and pension plans began following the end of the war. Hagel told a story of a three-year-old child who lost her father in the war and traveled overseas when she was 81-years-old to visit his grave.

He then recited a poem written by a Grade 6 student who said one petal of the poppy represented soldiers, one petal was for the children, one petal signified those who wait for the soldiers to come home and the fourth petal was for the veterans; the heroes of the past and the present.

The theme of the message given by Rev. Allan Lewis was serve, not be served.

“Our men and women in uniform continue to make the ultimate sacrifice. Some of the scars (carried by those who fought in war) are visible and some are not,” he said.

“For the world, peace is the absence of conflict.”

Earl Gabielhaus, accompanied by pianist, June Smithson, led the singing.

At the close of the service, following the benediction, Legionnaires presented their poppies.