There was a round of applause from members of Napanee’s Legion Branch 137,the public and the town’s mayor as the first veteran memorial banner was raised along Dundas Street on Tuesday.
Each banner has the name of a veteran, their picture and the conflict they served in.
The first banner raised of 33 now lining Napanee’s main street was Howard John O’Connor’s.
Kathy Gardner, Legion Branch 137 president, says O’Connor’s past service made him a suitable candidate for that honour.
“Howard O’Connor was a long term member of Branch 137, past president, very involved in the branch and it’s only fitting that he be included.”
All the veteran’s selected came from Branch 137’s wall of honour, said Gardner.
“Basically, because we had the 140 veterans on our wall of honour and families and relatives had provided the information already, we felt it was only fair to go to that list.”
The seeds for Napanee’s Veteran Memorial Banner Project were planted a year ago when Tiffany Lloyd, the executive director for the town’s BIA, drove through Lindsay, Ont.
“They had these banners up this time last year and I came home and said we have to do this,” Lloyd said.
The Town of Napanee provided a grant of $3,800 to cover the cost of making the banners along the labour to hang the banners on the light posts.
Mayor Marg Isbester says the banners will also be incorporated into this year’s Remembrance Day ceremony.
“The route this year is new for Remembrance Day at the cenotaph, everyone will see them as they’re going past,” Isbester told Global News on Tuesday.
Gardner says the memorial banner project is ongoing, and there will be another phase where veterans or their families can apply to have a banner made.
“They’ll be given the opportunity to submit the information, provide an application and we’ll go from there,” Gardner said.
The banners will remain in place until the conclusion of the Remembrance Day ceremony in November.
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