The city and community come together to honour those we have lost
The day of Remembrance, November 11 of each year. Brantford holds a ceremony to honour this day and all those involved. While every year’s events look quite similar, the impact of the event always there. Our council is very, very supportive of veterans, and I think that’s in large part because of the community. Brantford’s really a very patriotic community and very respectful of veterans, not just locally, but, nationwide,” Maria Visocchi, director, communications, community engagement and customer services said.
The proceedings for this year will go as such starting at 10:50 a.m., “this year’s Remembrance Day service will follow the traditional format, however, a special addition this year will be the formal recognition of newly engraved names on the Brant War Memorial. These are the names of individuals from Brant who served and died in World War I and World War II but had not previously been included on the memorial. As part of the service, these names will be read aloud, and one living relative of the fallen will offer a personal reflection” Jennifer Middleton, Special events Supervisor, City of Brantford said.
Involvement or attendance in the ceremony has always included different members of the Brantford community. Those involved this year are as follows: local elected officials, members of the 56th field artillery regiment (RCA), Memorial Cross recipients Helen Zuidema and Richard Leary, local legions, veterans, students and community leaders. Whether in attendance or participating, all are welcome and included.
Some new elements that will be included in this year’s ceremonies are the adding of new names to the Brant War Memorial. After much research was completed by locals and community input. The names will be added to make certain that those who have served and sacrificed get the proper recognition that they deserve. There will also be the unveiling of the Remembrance Day Crosswalk. The crosswalk will be located at the intersections of Bridge Street & Dalhousie Street and West Street & Brant Avenue.
“Our operations staff consulted with them [the Legion] on the design, and they the Legion] suggested the design, which I think has also been adopted in Hamilton. The graphic has a silhouette of a soldier, and it has got, red and white and black in it, and those are to symbolize the colours. Canada’s colours. There is a maple leaf in the center, but it is not the maple leaf that is in the flag. It’s inspired by that, but it’s not the actual, like, same design as the flag, and the reason for that is because it would be disrespectful to drive over the flag…but still, conveys the point of it, which is to honour our veterans and the lust we forget,” Visocchi said.
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