A Festival of Remembrance celebrated in Dartmouth

Festival of Remembrance held in Dartmouth A Dartmouth, N.S., church held a different kind of event for Remembrance Day on Friday. CTV's Paul Hollingsworth reports.

A Festival of Remembrance took place at Christ Church in Dartmouth, N.S., Friday, a sanctuary with historic roots that date back to the early 19th century.

“We have a lot of documents to go back that far actually," said historical committee member Janice Silver. "We are trying to catalogue them to make sure they are not lost.”

There are dozens of stories preserved in a display area that commemorates wartime sacrifice and service.

"There certainly were quite a number, starting with the Boer War right up to the Korean War,” said Silver.

The Christ Church Historical Committee invited parishioners and neighbourhood residents to honour what Silver called "cherished chapters" in Nova Scotia history.

A community choir performed several songs from the Second World War era.

Author Stephen Kimber did a reading from "Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs," a book he wrote about Halifax‘s wartime experiences from 1939 to 1945.

“Halifax became the city that hundreds and thousands of sailors and airman spent time in,” said Kimber.

Reverend Kyle Wagner said Remembrance Day is the perfect time to highlight examples of heroic contributions made by forgotten community members, while serving overseas in previous wars.

“A lot of this today is focused on people who used to attend church here and those who served," said Wagner. "It is specific to downtown Dartmouth.”

Organizers also served a batch of cookies made from a wartime rationing recipe.

“They are very good,” said Wagner.

An added layer to remind people, what life was like almost 80 years ago.