Family stories give personal impact to Remembrance Day 2010

Remembrance Day 2010 at Selwyn House was filled with family stories, stories that brought the message of remembrance home through personal stories of the hardship and horror of war.

Guest speaker at Remembrance Day 2010 was Dr. Hugh Brodie a veteran from Montreal who served with the Canadian Merchant Navy plying the English Channel in the days leading up to the invasion of Normandy. He described for the students “the horror, the death and the destruction” that marked his experiences on D-Day+2.

The following Middle School students read letters they had composed to send to Canadian veterans: Jacques Vincent, David Wen, Jonah Goodman, Karl Valentini and Vadim De Vreeze.

Led by Drama Teacher Alex Ivanovichi, Senior Drama students Sean Egger, Alex Ignacz, Cameron Romoff and Karim Belkou read extracts from Winter soldiers, accounts of U.S. veterans who have opposed war, from Vietnam to Iraq.

Jonah Palevsky showed a moving video of war footage he had compiled, entitled A Tribute to the Fallen Canadian Soldiers of the First and Second World Wars.

The following members of the Senior History class told stories of family history, explaining the impact war had on their ancestors’ lives, and how the circumstances of global conflict led them from many places around the world to be living in Canada today: Robbi Maar, Wyatt Marchildon, William Kendrik, Jacob Cohen, Matti Parnanen, Max Garneau-Pillet, Julian Lo, Michael Forian, Jesse Kaminshi and Justin Hebert.

Josh Cape presented a slideshow created by him and the 11e Année Langue Maternelle Class depicting the horrors of war throughout the centuries through graphic images and quotations. « La guerre n'est pas une aventure. La guerre est une maladie. Comme le typhus, » read one slide.

Nick Varvarigos told the story of his gradfather’s role in the Greek resistance movement during the Second World War.

Fernand Le Fèvre told of his great-grandfather’s role in the Normandy invasions, and his heartbreak of losing his dear friend and brother-in-law to enemy fire.

To view photos from Remembrance Day 2010, click here.