The town of Atikokan may soon get some more splashes of colour with a distinctly Remembrance theme.
Local legion officials say they’re working on having memorial banners for fallen soldiers publicly displayed, similar to projects already unveiled in Fort Frances and Thunder Bay, said Elizabeth Shine, the first vice president of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Atikokan branch. Shine also sits on town council.
She said the idea initially came to her in 2022 when she visited Espanola and saw banners publicly honouring soldiers there.
“They had all these banners up of soldiers with the dates of their age to when they passed away — World War II, Navy, Army, Air Force,” she said.
“So, I was like, ‘wow, this is awesome.’”
Shine said she contacted the legion in Espanola who sent information and since then, “we’ve been trying to get this on for this long a period of time.”
“It’s really nice to be able to come into your own town and be able to see the people that we cherish on a day of Remembrance,” she said. “Because we’re remembering them as well as everyone else that is fighting today.”
Another proposal in the works, Shine said, is to paint a pair of crosswalks that service the recently paved O’Brien Street. One would be at the MacKenzie Avenue intersection, and the other, a block north at Main Street. The legion branch is in the middle of that block on O’Brien.
The crosswalks, Shine said, would be similar to ones in several other Canadian communities, which are adorned in red and white with poppies and “Lest We Forget” displayed.
Shine said work continues on the legion building itself, updating the hall and making it more accessible — including the addition of a universal washroom that will also be able to properly accommodate wheelchairs.
The town, like many across the region, held its annual Remembrance Day ceremonies on Nov. 11; this year, there were some changes, with local officials hoping they will continue into the future.
This year’s ceremony saw a dozen members of the local 600 Starfighter Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron guard and hold vigil over the local cenotaph the night before the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Capt. Crystal DeGagne, the cadet squadron’s commanding officer, said the 30-minute shifts started at 9 p.m. on Nov. 10 and continued up until the ceremonies started the next day.
DeGagne said the idea came from when she was with the army cadets in Burk’s Falls, northeast of Parry Sound, and decided to bring it north.
“I just feel that the veterans and the past deserve the respect and the cadets believe that too,” she said. “We just wanted to honour (that) in the best way that we could.”
DeGagne said it’s something she wants to see become an annual tradition.
“I would absolutely love to do that,” she said. “The cadets enjoyed it — we all had a great time.”
That sentiment was shared by the Atikokan Legion’s current president, Sue Gaudette.
She said it was great the cadets were showing their support in such a public way, and that it was “showing the community what they do and showing the younger children what this is all about.”
“It’s opening some eyes in this community with younger kids, and I think that is a blessing for us, and it’s a plus — 100 per cent.”
