Decoration Day is this Sunday to commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice during wartime. 

The program will get underway at 10:30 a.m. with flag placements at the grave sites of veterans. The main ceremony will be at Rosedale Cemetery, but flags will be laid at cemeteries across the city. 

“Out at Rosedale Cemetery, there are about 1,100 flags placed on veterans’ graves and we also do the East End cemetery and the Sunset Cemetery just South of Moose Jaw,” said Public Relations Executive Justin Eddison with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 59 Moose Jaw.  

“We covered off basically everything to ensure that our local veterans that are buried here in Moose Jaw are recognized during this day.” 

Following there will be a Decoration Day service at the Rosedale Cemetery cenotaph at noon and a barbecue at the Royal Canadian Legion lounge at 1 p.m. Tickets for the barbecue are available for purchase now at the lounge. 

Decoration Day has a long history in Canada going back hundreds of years. 

“Decoration Day was the first established actually 132 years ago today on the second of June, 1890. Originally, it was essentially a Remembrance Day prior to the formation of Remembrance Day for the veterans of the Battle of Ridgeway,” Eddison said. 

Eddison added that, while this day has been overshadowed by Remembrance Day in November, it is still a day that is still honoured by the Royal Canadian Legion.