Fort McMurray- Lac La Biche MLA Laila Goodridge will be attending the Nov. 11 Remembrance Day ceremony at the Lac La Biche Legion's outdoor cenotaph on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
Knowing the event will be held outside at the cenotaph, and in full exposure to "that Northern wind" as Lac La Biche County Mayor describes the icy gusts that historically blow towards the war monument outside the lakeside legion building , Goodridge says she's ready.
"I'm a Northern girl," she said with a laugh the day before the ceremony, saying no degree of bad weather would keep her away.
"One of my favourite parts of being an MLA is being able to participate in the Remembrance Day ceremonies, and I've chosen to do it in Lac La Biche this year — I'm very excited about that," said Goodridge, who was in Lac La Biche on November 10 to speak with municipal councillors on a number of regional and provincial issues.
Returning as an outdoor ceremony after the last seven years being indoors at the Bold Center, the 2020 Remembrance Day event in Lac La Biche is back outdoors due to COVID-19 restrictions for indoor gatherings. In the decades of events leading up to the move indoors, the ceremony was known for some very blustery days.
Goodridge says she's ready.
"There is a reason I have a very lovely winter coat," she said.
Lac La Biche's outdoor ceremony will begin at the McGrane Branch Legion cenotaph on Churchill Drive at 10:45 am. Due to pandemic restrictions, there will be no parade, no local cadets standing as honour guard at the monument, no community wreath-laying and no parade contingent from CFB Cold Lake.
Despite the reduced event, Lac La Biche Legion President Danny Stevens says the annual event holds the same reverence as in previous years, and he hopes that people who do attend will take the time to remember the fallen and those who continue to battle on the front lines of all emergency situations.