Battleford will remember veterans differently this year, and in upcoming years.
Printed banners honouring local veterans will hang from light posts this year, Fred Light Museum manager Bernadette Leslie told the News-Optimist. The museum plans on hanging the banners in time for this year’s Remembrance Dance and for the four years after, as well.
Leslie invites those who are interested to contact the museum about the program they are calling Honour Our Veterans. Costs are $150 per veteran. Families are asked to submit high resolution photos.
The banners will be hung about two weeks before Remembrance Day, according to Leslie, and will remain a week after.
The banners are to be printed on both sides and can include information such as rank.
“Hopefully it draws people downtown,” Leslie said.
They will be doing 52 banners in total. There are 24 banners still available, Leslie said. They’ve had a good response, she said, even without any advertising.
This first campaign will be for Second World War veterans, she said, and if it goes over well they may also do First World War vets in other areas of town, perhaps the new areas, or even along highway.
The Honour Our Veterans Program was an idea suggested by Elinor Florence, said Leslie. Florence, author and former resident of the Battlefords area, undertook a similar program in her current home, Invermere, B.C.
At least one other community in Saskatchewan has undertaken a veterans banner program and there are several in communities across Canada.
