Hundreds gathered along Milltown Boulevard in St. Stephen on Friday for the annual Remembrance Day ceremony.

It was a chance for residents in the border town to pay their respects to veterans, military members, and first responders.

Leon Savoie, a retired warrant officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, emceed the annual service.

In an interview after the ceremony, Savoie said he thought the turnout was good.

“It’s really great, I feel anyway, that we could have a full ceremony again this year,” said Savoie.

“Spectators love the march-past, as you can tell because they clap their hands and everything else.

There was no parade of veterans and dignitaries during the previous two years due to COVID-19 measures that were in place.

Similar to the last two years, only a handful of wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph during the ceremony, with the rest being put in place before it began.

Many of those who attended Friday morning’s ceremony were young people. Some came with their families, others as part of sports teams from local schools.

“To me, probably one of the most important things that happens is that the future generations are learning of what the past was,” said Savoie.

“As we see what’s going on in the world today, obviously a lot of countries haven’t learned much from the past. Hopefully, these younger generations will learn from it and what’s happening today won’t happen again.”

A ceremony also took place at the Milltown Cenotaph at the corner of Queensway Way and Church Street.