PECI honours connections to Remembrance Day

-Roanna Kitchen photo

By Roanna Kitchen
Students and staff at Prince Edward Collegiate Institute commemorated those who were, and are, willing to give their lives for freedom during a Remembrance Day ceremony Wednesday at the school.

Matthew Sheehan, teacher at PECI, wrote and directed a dramatic presentation unveiled by the senior drama class, based on war veteran Harry Walmsley, of Picton.

The play told Walmsley’s story of how he was motivated to volunteer to become a soldier, to serve his country and was willing to give his life to his country so that Canadians could continue to have freedom.

Guest speaker Major Neal Matthews connected his presentation to Matthews’ story, explaining that, for veterans, everything connects back to a basic moral belief that a person’s action in serving is “the right thing to do”.

The “right thing to do” was also key within Sheehan’s play.

The service came to a close with two local cadets, both PECI students, hanging wreaths on either side of the stage and leading in a moment of silence.

Sheehan noted the three-part ceremony was designed to demonstrate for PECI students the personal connections everyone has to Remembrance Day, whether it be through family or friends or through the history of Canada.

“Hopefully students will not take things like personal freedom for granted, and second-guess that sense of entitlement that many youths have today,” said Sheehan. “I believe we all need to honor those who sacrificed their lives in so many different ways.”

This is the seventh year PECI has held a service honouring County heritage.