Some of the banners in the "Honour our Veterans" program. (Submitted photo/Bernadette Leslie)

By Angela Brown

"Honour Our Veterans"

Fred Light Museum plans for banner unveiling ceremony

Oct 17, 2023 | 2:00 PM

It will be a historic occasion this year as the Town of Battleford and North Battleford veterans’ banners will be showcased during a special unveiling ceremony for the 2023 “Honour Our Veterans” banner program.

The Fred Light Museum with support from the Town of Battleford will host the unveiling ceremony at the Alex Dillabough Centre in Battleford on Oct. 27, starting at 1:30 p.m.

“The North Battleford Legion and their banner supporters are joining us this year. With this being the fifth year, all families and friends who have honoured a loved one are invited back,” Fred Light Museum manager Bernadette Leslie said.

“Everyone who sponsored a veterans banner in the last five years is being invited [to return] for the ceremony,” she added.

A total of 116 banners will hang on light stands in Battleford this year to recognize local veterans, an increase from 111 last year.

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The unveiling ceremony will also include a video displaying all the veterans being recognized.

The veterans’ banner sponsorship runs for five years. As this marks the fifth year in Battleford, if families want to continue to have their loved one’s banner run again for another five years in the program, they will need to sponsor their banner again.

“We’ve had enough interest from people saying they would like to extend [their participation in the program],” Leslie said. “We’ll be contacting all the people who sponsored a banner five years ago to see if they want to re-sponsor. For any of the old [banners], families can have them from those we had on display.”

The North Battleford Royal Canadian Legion Branch #70 will also participate in the unveiling ceremony, highlighting their banner program. This is the North Battleford Legion’s fourth year taking part.

“The first year, the museum helped run the veteran banner program in North Battleford,” Leslie said. “Then, after that, they were on their own. They asked if they could join in with us because they never had a celebration yet.”

She noted she hopes the banner program inspires more interest in the lives of Canada’s veterans.

She would also like to see more youth learn about the history of the First World War and Second World War, so the heroic achievements and great sacrifices of our ancestors are not forgotten.

“It’s so important to keep remembering our veterans who gave so much for our freedoms today,” Leslie said. “One of the reasons we have this [banner] program is to keep recognizing them.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow