“We’re starting something amazing,” says Royal Canadian Legion Ortona Branch 69 Berwick volunteer Michèle Champion.
Champion, Legion’s public relations and publicity chair, welcomed community members April 22 to a meeting, launching details of a veterans’ and active service members’ recognition program that will, hopefully, see dozens of banners lining several streets leading to Berwick’s cenotaph in the weeks before Remembrance Day this Fall.
“We’re creating a living legacy for all of our veterans – past and present, and having people make connections as they see them up will be great.”
The banners will be 24” by 48” two-sided vinyl displays, including an image and three lines that can detail a combination of a veteran’s or service member’s name, service years, unit affiliation and/ or theatre. The image, ideally, will be the featured individual; in cases where this is not possible, a unit emblem, poppy or other appropriate image could be used. Once designed, the banners, technically owned by the person who arranged it, will hang on brackets from Berwick light poles along Cottage Street and Veterans Drive from mid-October to the week after November 11’s cenotaph service. The banner owner could then take it home, or leave it with the Legion for annual display.
The banners will recognize deceased and living Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP and policing, Coast Guard and allied military forces’ members. And – they don’t have to be from the Berwick area: anyone who wants a person recognized could request a banner and have it hang with Berwick’s collection. A banner in honour of a living veteran or service member will have to have that person’s approval.
“It’s pretty exciting we’re launching a program to honour our active and deceased serving members,” Champion said. “This puts a face to our veterans and service members, and it will be good to have the banners go right through town.”
A retired teacher, Champion is especially keen to see youth response to the banners, as they will line the same streets that approach both the Berwick and District School and Kings Mutual Century Centre.
If you are interested in a recognition banner, here is some information to consider. The deadline to order a banner for this Fall’s display will be May 20. To assist, the Legion will host two open sessions to help scan any photos for use on banners: May 13 and 20, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Legion volunteers will also help with your text arrangement, and a 100-word biography. The components will be sent off to the production company for design, and a version will come back in June for review and approval. The banners will arrive in early Fall, in time for the mid-October inaugural hanging display. A two-sided banner is $190, including tax – with nothing extra added by either the production company or the Legion.
Champion said there is also the option to contribute a longer biography of the banner individuals, which could be included in the provincial Legion’s Veteran’s Service Recognition Book. The Town of Berwick and Ortona Branch 69 are also thinking ahead to a potential pamphlet people could reference as they walk along and see the banners.
“There’s more to the story of our veterans and service members, and the banners and the biographies make it much more personal and put even more value in the project.”
For information on the Ortona Branch 69 banner program, contact Champion at ortonalegionpublicrelations@hotmail.com, message the branch through Facebook, or drop into the Legion May 13 or 20 during the photo scanning sessions, any special event or open lounge hours.
