Columbia Valley wartime veterans are being honoured for the first time with the colourful new Honour Our Veterans Banner Program.

Hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 71 of Invermere, the program pays tribute to local living and deceased veterans of the First World War, Second World War, and Korean War through the display of banners on light poles in downtown Invermere for the month leading up to Remembrance Day, every year for the next five years.

The double-sided banners feature a veteran on each side. They will be hung for the first time during the first week in October, and will be taken down after Remembrance Day.

Valley resident and long-time Legion member Elinor Florence proposed the idea to the local Legion after discovering a similar program in Eastern Canada.

“This began in the Maritimes and has spread to several Ontario towns,” she explained. “We believe this is the first community in B.C. to get on board.”

The banners are two-sided. Each side honours a wartime veteran who once lived in the region full-time, anywhere between Canal Flats and Spillimacheen. The banner bears the veteran’s photograph, name, branch of service, and sponsor’s name. The cost of printing the banners was funded through sponsorship by families.

“We were pleased to have husbands and wives represented, brothers and sisters, uncles and nephews,” Elinor said. “The two local bands purchased 16 banners for the First Nations vets, which is very heartwarming, as these men were never given the recognition that they deserved.”

The program came about through the willingness of volunteers. Sandi Jones of Invermere, whose family has a proud military history in the Columbia Valley and purchased five of the banners, spent countless hours collecting information and photographs.

Since many photos were old or damaged, Jerry McLeod of Invermere spent many hours preparing the photos for printing.

“The photographs are what make it especially meaningful,” Elinor said. “We want valley residents to walk down the street and look into the face of each individual veteran. Four of them are still living, and we want them to know how much this community appreciates their willingness to lay down their lives for us.”

The District of Invermere has accepted responsibility for hanging and taking down the banners each year. Palliser Printing in Invermere donated the time required to prepare the digital files, which were sent to Anvy Digital Imaging in Calgary for printing the heavy vinyl weatherproof banners.

Currently the number of veterans is restricted to 74, as there are only 37 light poles with installation hardware in Invermere’s downtown core.

This is by no means the total number of area veterans who served, and Legion president Ken Carlow said the Legion would consider paying for additional hanging hardware if there is future demand.

The Legion has also created a printed guidebook containing brief biographies of the 74 veterans. This is available from the Legion while supplies last.

For more information, call the Legion at 250-342-9517 or email [email protected].

Submitted

Article Share