It was a sea of orange outside the Timmins Friendship and Native Centre as people filed onto the street to walk in the Orange Shirt Day walk here in Timmins.

Children, teenagers, young adults and elders all joined in the walk to bring awareness to Residential School survivors and those that didn’t make it.

Mayor Steve Black declared this Sunday, Sept. 30th to be official Orange Shirt Day in Timmins. Today, residents, young and old, gathered in the gym of the Friendship Centre to honor past Residential School Survivors and encourage the younger generation to ask questions and learn more about the Residential School experience.

The crowd formed a circle in the gym and words of reflection proceeded a drum and song performance, which can be seen below.

The entire ceremony, followed by the walk on Mountjoy Blvd., was moving, and truly inspirational for future generations who will only have recollections from Residential School Survivors to know about the past experiences that were endured.