The town of St. Marys is not letting the coronavirus pandemic stop them from honouring local veterans this Remembrance Day.
Instead of a large gathering, the St. Marys Legion has asked residents to sponsor a banner of a veteran in their family, which is then displayed in the downtown area.
Many people still have a relative who fought in the war.
“We certainly thought the town of St. Marys would be a town to do it because we have a military history that goes back to the first regiment in WW1,” Legion president Tom Jenkins said.
Jenkins said there were a lot of families who got involved in the project right away.
The town only has 31 poles for banners, 13 of which are on the main street, and Jenkins initially worried that they would not get enough people to fill those spaces.
“It snowballed very quickly, and in the end, we ended up with 55 banners,” he said.
After running out of space, the Legion asked local businesses to display them in their store windows.
Jenkins says the project has reinforced the importance of Remembrance Day amid the pandemic, which has led communities to cancel parades and other gatherings.
“It will be very different, but judging from the show of support from these banners and the reaction they have had, we have no doubt that people will still be observing.”
— With Files from Natalie Lovie, Global News