What is Decoration Day?
Annually on the third Sunday in June at the Lakefield Cemetery we celebrate Decoration Day. Decoration Day is a time honoured tradition where families visit the cemetery to pay respects to their loved ones by tidying up gravesites, cleaning cemetery memorials and placing floral tributes. This annual observance has been honoured for decades at our cemetery but few can remember the true history behind this tradition.
I’m sure many of you would be surprised to find out that Decoration Day, a precursor to Remembrance Day, was once a nationally recognized day in Canada that commemorated our war dead. On this day Canadians would gather at war memorials, visit the cemetery to clean up veteran’s gravesites, and leave floral tributes, wreaths and garlands.
Decoration Day began as a protest by Canadian veterans in 1890. These veterans had fought in the Battle of Ridgeway on June 2, 1866. The Battle of Ridgeway took place across the Niagara River from Buffalo, New York near Fort Erie, Ontario between Canadian troops and Irish-American invaders known as the Fenians. This battle was the largest engagement of the Fenian Raids and the first modern industrial era battle to be fought by only Canadian troops, led only by Canadian officers. During this battle there were 9 soldiers killed. These soldiers now known as the Ridgeway Nine were the modern Canadian military’s first combat casualties. Another 22 soldiers later died after succumbing to injuries and disease contracted during the Fenian Raids in the summer of 1866. These war casualties were quickly forgotten by the politicians of the times. Fed up and frustrated for being forgotten for 25 years, the surviving veterans of the Fenian Raids protested on the anniversary of the Battle of Ridgeway June 2, 1890. They laid floral tributes and wreaths at the Canadian Volunteers Monument near Queen’s Park in Toronto. This event became known as Decoration Day, an annual tradition that endured until 1930. Decoration Day eventually honoured Canadian soldier casualties of the Northwest Rebellions of 1885, the Boer war of 1899-1902 and World War I before the end of the war in November 1918. As of 1931 Ottawa passed an act that permanently fixed Canada’s military memorial day to the anniversary of Armistice Day, November 11.
So as you can see the celebration of Decoration Day has endured here at the cemetery. Although we celebrate later the heart of the tradition lives on, by remembering those who have passed on and honouring them and showing reverence by cleaning up gravesites and memorials and leaving floral tributes.
So come join us June 16th for our annual Decoration Day. Place a floral tribute, clean a family headstone and take pride in participating in a time honoured Canadian tradition.