Battleford Legion's first vice-president Tim Popp, left, and some of the new veterans' banners in this year's program. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

"Honour Our Veterans"

Fred Light Museum’s 2022 veterans banner program unveiled

Oct 29, 2022 | 4:00 PM

The sound of bagpipes filled the air at the Alex Dillabough Centre in Battleford Friday as the Fred Light Museum officially unveiled the 2022 ‘Honour Our Veterans’ banner program.

A total of 111 banners so far have been installed on the streets of Battleford for the program this year, including 14 new banners.

Museum manager Bernadette Leslie said it’s wonderful to have so many veterans recognized for the project, now in its fourth year.

The banners will remain on display in the town until close to the end of November, during the month of Remembrance.

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The Fred Light Museum is partnering with the Battleford Royal Canadian Legion Branch #9 and the Town of Battleford on the banner project.

Each of the banners in the program features a veteran who at one time was a permanent resident of the Battlefords and area. Each year families sponsor a loved one who served in the military to include their name on a banner.

The 14 new veterans added to the program this year are Sargis Ayvas, James William Carroll, George Elliott, William Charles Griffiths, William George Griffiths, Bruce Evans Innes, Alexander Kovar, Laurie Jean MacPherson, Richard (Dick) Nault, James Henry Ouellette, James Gordon Parkinson, Llewellyn L. Pleasance, Michael Schwan, and William Arthur Thompson. A commemorative booklet is also available with descriptions of the new veterans featured in this year’s program.

A group of students from Battleford Central School also took part in the unveiling ceremony, to read the poem “In Flanders Fields.”

A number of the families, who sponsored one of the banners to pay tribute to a loved one, attended the ceremony. Some drove in from as far as B.C, Alberta and Manitoba for the event.

Corey Nault, who travelled from his home in Kamloops, B.C., to attend the ceremony, said his family sponsored a banner to honour his father Richard (Dick) Nault, who served in Second World War with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI).

“We have all of our families’ [veterans] up there now – my grandfather Elorie, my uncle Dan, my uncle Allan, my uncle Wally…,” Corey said. “They are all on the banners, all on one street here.”

“It’s important to honour all of these guys that fought for our right to do, whatever it is we want to do,” he said of the project.

Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie said he is glad to see that the program to recognize the local veterans has been so well received.

“I’m very grateful and honoured that the Legion #9 and the Fred Light Museum worked so well together to continually remind us of the men and women who have sacrificed so much to give us the freedoms and liberties we have today,” he said.

Leslie added the council of the Town of Battleford appreciates all the work that went into the banner project, which keeps getting bigger every year.

“It’s not just downtown Battleford anymore,” he said. “It’s starting to grow out more into the side streets. Just to see the photos and hear some of the stories today from the family members, of what it means to see their grandfather, uncle, grandma, sister or brother up and being honoured in downtown Battleford gives me a sense of pride.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow