It has been said that “History repeats itself.”
Many looking at the world situation today are drawing comparisons to a century ago.
On July 28, we will mark the 100-year anniversary of the start of World War I, often referred to as “The Great War” or the “War to End all Wars.”
At the outset, no one could ever have imagined the casualties that were the end result of this conflict. Estimates for casualty numbers vary from nine million to 15 million.
Summerland was not left untouched. The names of our fallen soldiers can easily be found, listed on the cenotaph in Memorial Park.
Council’s Community Cultural Development Committee started a campaign to have the pictures of our soldiers printed on banners, to adorn our streets come Remembrance Day.
David Gregory, speaking on behalf of this committee said,
“The intent behind this was so people could get an idea of what they (the fallen soldiers) looked like and the loss it was to our community.”
Gregory has written a book along with Sheryl Foster on the lives of the soldiers from Summerland. It is used in conjunction with this project, providing the pictures for the banners. People are able to go through the book in order to select the photo of the soldier they would like to remember. The soldier’s picture is then printed on to a banner.
The cost to have this done is $189, taxes included. The banners are being produced locally by Ink Works.
There are still photographs of nine World War I and 23 World War II soldiers on our cenotaph waiting to be placed on banners.
The District of Summerland’s Public Works staff, hang the banners in late October, leaving them up until after Remembrance Day.
“I think if we had it all completed it would be really neat. The intent is to line Main Street and Victoria Road and Rosedale Avenue with remembrance banners. I think it is a really positive project for our community,” said Gregory.
If you would like to purchase a banner, either individually or as a group, please contact Karen Jones at 250-494-6451 or e-mail her at kjones@summerland.ca.
