Penetanguishene cenotaph draws huge Remembrance Day crowd
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Nov. 11, 2025
In a mix of rain and snow this Remembrance Day, large numbers appeared at the Penetanguishene cenotaph to show respect for those who gave their lives to keep the world safe and free.
Roughly two hundred people attended the event which began with a parade along Main Street toward the cenotaph, where service members and dignitaries gathered among residents and visitors.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 68 of Penetanguishene vice president Bev Rittershofer provided attendees with the sequence of events and their importance on the day, beginning with the iconic trumpet call of The Last Post, prayer from Legion padre Douglas Clark and a reading of In Flanders Fields from Cheyanne Gordon.
“The laying of wreaths allows individuals in the organizations to pay their respects and lay a tribute to individuals or groups,” said Rittershofer, as she instructed representatives to come forward and place down their organization’s wreath.”
Parties laid their wreaths down in succession, which was followed by words from Mayor Doug Rawson who thanked the Legion for their work throughout the year.
“Specifically days like today that help us come together in moments of remembrance,” said Rawson. “I want to thank everyone that’s here today. I think it’s phenomenal that we take time to collectively remember and honour those that have served and continue to serve to keep our communities and our country safe. We have so much to be thankful for, so much to be proud of.”
Legion Branch 68 president Pat White provided a prayer of peace before acknowledging those in attendance.
“Fellow veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members, Legion members, Cadets, government and municipal officials, emergency services, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. In my seven years here, this is the best turn-out that I’ve seen in Penetang. I thank you very much for your attendance in honouring our veterans.
“As we complete today’s ceremony, let us carry forward the spirit of remembrance in our hearts. May we honour the sacrifices of those who have served by striving for peace, compassion, and unity in our daily lives. Thank you for being part of this very important ceremony. Lest we forget,” said White.
Rittershofer offered attendees to close the ceremony by providing their own poppies onto the lain wreaths “as a final tribute, acknowledging that all veteran services and sacrifices will be remembered”, which many accepted. A procession dispersed from the cenotaph toward the nearby Legion where community refreshments were available.
Penetanguishene resident Vicky McGuire shared why attending Remembrance Day ceremonies were such a vital part of every community.
“To me, this day is very important to respect my family and all the others that have served for us,” McGuire said. “I think it’s very important for us to teach the younger people why it’s important; to show respect for the people who have died, who have given their lives – who have fought and never come back.
“My grandparents have served and I respect them. I’ll place a wreath in their honour. I think it’s something that we need to continue,” McGuire added.
Penetanguishene website gets ‘awesome’ multilingual upgrade after students call out town
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Nov 14, 2025
Visitors to the Town of Penetanguishene website can now access information and services with greater ease, thanks to the students of École publique Saint-Joseph and their proactive criticism toward council this past summer.
In June, students of the grades 3 and 4 class at Saint-Joseph tasked with exploring government and community services for a social studies project learned the town’s English-only website didn’t offer multilingual translation options — not even French.
They invited Mayor Doug Rawson and Coun. Doug Leroux to their class and presented findings in person, saying they were “embarrassed” as neighbouring municipalities had multilingual options for their official websites, including French.
At the recent regular meeting of council, students, parents and teachers sat in attendance while many more joined remotely. While the council agenda listed a presentation from the students on the launch of website accessibility and language support by the town, it would be more apt to say it was for the students who were excited to be there.
“I want to recognize the school community, the teachers and the students that called us out and said, ‘We expect more,’” said Rawson. “We heard you, and thank you so much for your leadership.”
Rawson gave a spotlight to communications and technology co-ordinator Sarah Dusome, who had “been working hard not just for the request from you, but for the entire community (on) how can we make our communications more accessible.”
With the prompt of a drum roll and the attendees pattering their laps, the town website unveiled on the overhead projection screens, and Dusome explained an Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)-compliant tool with 16 options had been implemented, as well as the ability to translate from French and 59 other languages.
After applause died down, Rawson thanked the students for their courage in speaking up.
“Everyone does their part to make the community stronger and better,” he said.
Photos were taken and the audience dispersed.
Students told MidlandToday they were impressed. Jack called the website presentation “awesome,” and Wesley thought the option of 60 languages was “crazy.”
Ezra shared, “Honestly, when they came into our class, I was expecting it to take longer than this.”
Dusome stated the original intent was to explore languages as per the students’ request, but AODA compliance, such as adjustable text size and ease of screen reading, aligned with the town’s strategic priority.
“It’s really great to see the smiles on all of the faces,” Dusome told MidlandToday, noting more than 50 people were watching the council meeting via livestream. “Your own heart is warmed by seeing something that they’ve asked you to do, that we could make happen for them.
“Definitely not as simple as flipping a switch,” she added, “but the work that we put into it is definitely worth it when we see those smiling faces, and all the people that were watching online live as well.”
It had been speculated in a previous meeting a fully translated website would be expensive to implement, but CAO Jeff Lees said having staff getting the website to the calibre expected by the students wasn’t difficult, and was time well spent for the entire community.
“It was an important time to get the website to an important part to accommodate a great suggestion that was brought forward, not only from a Francophone perspective but also from an AODA and accessibility perspective,” said Lees.
Rawson stated the town had progressed past its previously embarrassed state due to the students.
“It’s always awesome when we have students — we have anybody in the community — participate in the process. I give a lot of credit to the teachers and the community for doing that,” he said.
Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53, or on the Rogers TV website.
Archives of council meetings are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.