Airdrie’s Field of Crosses ceremony was held Saturday morning on Veterans Boulevard, as residents and veterans gathered to honour local service members and first responders who have died. Organized by the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans of Canada (ANAVETS) with support from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 288 (Airdrie) and the Veterans Association Food Bank, the display has grown from 20 crosses in its first year to 62 this year, organizers said. A motorcade of motorcycles and emergency vehicles made its way from the Town and Country Centre to the Field of Honour, where the crosses were placed in a short ceremony. Motorcycles led the procession. Once on site, members of the public gathered near the flagpole for the service. Under clear skies, volunteers and dignitaries placed 62 crosses — each bearing the name of a local veteran — along Veterans Boulevard. The display will remain in place through Remembrance Day. Among those attending the ceremony were newly elected Mayor Heather Spearman, councillors Ron Chapman, Chad Stewart, and Candice Kolson, Airdrie-East UCP MLA Angela Pitt, Independent MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane Peter Guthrie, former mayor Peter Brown, and former councillor Tina Petrow, along with other local dignitaries and community representatives. Pitt and Guthrie also spoke during the ceremony. Spearman thanked organizers and community members for maintaining what she called “a powerful tribute our city proudly displays for our veterans.” “We acknowledge and appreciate ANAVETS — the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans — the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 288 (Airdrie) and the Veterans Association Food Bank for supporting this memorial,” Spearman said. “Veterans Boulevard, with the crosses and our new memorial art installations, creates a space of importance and honour. What we see here today is a community refusing to forget and committing to create spaces to remember.” She added that each cross represents “a name, a story and a family,” and thanked families for sharing their loved ones’ legacies. “May we never forget, may we always honour, and may Airdrie continue to be a place where the fallen are remembered and the living are supported. Lest we forget,” she said. Organizers said the intent of the annual ceremony is to ensure Airdrie’s fallen are remembered and never forgotten. Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon. Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM. DiscoverAirdrie encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverAirdrie app. To hear more on this story and others, stream us live here.