The City of Lacombe will be recognizing Sept. 30, 2021 as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.
“Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is vital for reconciliation,” says Todd Vaughan, Communications and Community Engagement with the City of Lacombe.
Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day will take place on Sept. 30.
The City says they will recognize the solemn importance of the day by flying flags at half-mast and municipal facilities will be closed or operate at a lesser capacity.
City Hall, Lacombe Memorial Centre and public works will be closed that day. The Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex will be open from 3:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and the Kinsmen Aquatic Centre will be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m..
Municipal facilities will also take part in Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30..
Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day that honours the children who survived Indian Residential Schools and remembers those who did not.
This day relates to the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. On Webstad’s first day of school she wore an orange shirt that her grandmother had given her. When she arrived at the school it was taken from her. That story and orange shirt are now a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.