Surrey residents are invited to the Surrey Museum and Surrey Archives on Remembrance Day, before and after the service at the Cloverdale Cenotaph.
Both buildings flank Surrey Museum Plaza, site of the largest Remembrance Day service in the city.
The museum and archives are both open to the public for Surrey Remembers, a special morning of programming, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 11.
At the museum (17710 56A Avenue), warm up with hot chocolate and cookies.
Children can can make “peaceful” cr
afts, such as tissue paper poppies and harmony doves.
Visitors can watch documentary Second World War videos in the theatre, send thank-you notes to veterans and their families in the Lower Mainland, and listen to the Hazelmere Heritage Fiddlers.
There will also be demonstrations of weaving and spinning, including the heritage loom used to rehabilitate veterans.
From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., join former Royal Canadian Navy Wren Gwen Settle, as she shares the challenges faced while serving her country during the 1960s and reveals Cold War secrets.
Across the plaza at the Surrey Archives (17671 56 Avenue), warm up with refreshments, then head to the reference room.
See wartime newspapers, documents, and photographs. There will also be a slideshow on experiences in Surrey during the First World War.
More than 700 men from Surrey signed up for military service at the outbreak of the First World War. Nearly one in 10 didn’t return.
Visitors to the archives can also hear the voices of local veterans at the Oral History station.
Both events are drop in, by donation. In 2015, admission is sponsored by the Friends of the Surrey Museum and Archives Society.
For more information, call 604-592-6956 or visit www.surrey.ca/heritage.
– Cloverdale Reporter