Remembrance Day events in Stirling, Alta., will have a new meeting point starting this fall.
Stirling officials have announced the creation of a cenotaph that will be located on the west side of the village administration building.
Mayor Trevor Lewington spearheaded the project, with the village making an application to the Commemorative Partnership Program within Veterans Affairs Canada.
The application was successful, and Stirling was awarded $25,000 for the project, with council approving capital funds to match the grant. The total cost for the project is estimated at $52,000.
The site will include a nine-foot obelisk recognizing First and Second World War veterans from Stirling, with their names listed on the monument.
More details are available on the village’s website, and chief administrative officer Scott Donselaar said they’re looking for public assistance in making sure their list of veterans is complete.
“We have all of the information on the cenotaph project — as well as the entire roll list — on there, and I would encourage people that if there’s someone who served and was from Stirling that we don’t have on there, please contact us,” he said Tuesday.
In a release, Lewington said that he and members of council felt it was important to honour those who fought for the freedoms that the community enjoys today.
“Council feels remembrance isn’t just an even one time a year, and the cenotaph is a way for us to honour those community members forever,” Lewington said.
Donselaar said the cenotaph is expected to be complete in September, well in advance of the village’s first Remembrance Day ceremony with the new gathering point.
“This year is going to be the first village-hosted Remembrance Day ceremony,” the CAO said.
“The school does something every year, and they’re excited now to be able to participate with the village and the community as a whole, to be able to really broaden the Remembrance Day ceremony within the village.”
The project is one step in the village’s 3rd Street revitalization project.