Community members have stepped up to save the Remembrance Day service in Milltown.

The annual service at the Milltown Cenotaph was cancelled after the local legion branch recently turned in its Charter.

That prompted Anthony Daigle and the Milltown Activities Group to plan a community-led service.

“It didn’t surprise a lot of people that the Charter had to be surrendered due to a lack of people and participation. However, to cancel the service outright wasn’t right,” Daigle told our newsroom.

“For people who are lifers there, they were saying, ‘this would be the first year in my life that I haven’t attended a Remembrance Day service in Milltown.'”

Daigle has fond memories of attending the Milltown ceremony growing up and laying wreaths for his grandfather and great-uncle.

The 26-year-old, who still lives in Milltown, said he thought the community should continue to have its own service, even without the legion branch.

“I immediately started reaching out to the St. Stephen legion, which is still an active branch, and got some feedback from them and I reached out to the past president of the Milltown branch,” said Daigle.

“I designed an agenda or program for the ceremony and then I proposed it to the town to get permission to have the area of the Milltown Cenotaph.”

Daigle said the feedback from the community has been overwhelming in the time since they started to plan the community-led service.

He added they are doing their best to ensure the event closely resembles the past services held by the legion.

“I’ve reached out to local cadet groups and Girl Guides groups that are usually there performing, either singing the national anthem or reading In Flanders Fields,” said Daigle.

“I also coordinated with the legion for people who wanted to lay wreaths that they could purchase their wreaths from the St. Stephen branch and just bring it with them the day of for the laying of the wreaths.”