Sometimes good ideas pop up in a community like ours.
Sometimes the ideas are great.
The idea to create banners to honour veterans from Yorkton and area is clearly one which falls under the column of truly great ideas.
As the years fall away since the end of the two great wars, there are fewer and fewer veterans left for this generation to meet, to shake their hands and to say thanks for helping ensure the Canada we have today was allowed to develop.
But, in a time when nasty things such as racism seem to be crawling out of the muck where they tend to exist, it is important to remember our veterans fought, many died, to ensure freedoms for all. Canada is a country that is at its best because it is inclusive of race, or colour of skin, or religion, or sexual orientation. This is a big, bold country that rightfully should be a place for all.
Our veterans stormed the beaches at Normandy, fought their way across Europe to protect our right to be that country.
Having banners hanging along our streets each fall as a prelude to the annual Remembrance Day activities in the city is an absolutely great way to raise that awareness not only of the contributions of our veterans, but of what their sacrifices mean to the Canada of today.
The idea of banners is not new. It has been done in locations from Watson, SK. to Vancouver, but that does not lessen the impact it can have locally.
The annual hanging of the banners, the faces of our veterans, each October can be one of solemn remembrance and a chance for education of the next generation about just what this men and women accomplished.
As Councillor Quinn Haider said at Council Monday, this project is a no-brainer in terms of one being worthy of support.
To the credit of Council they did more than offer words of support, adding the area around the cenotaph on Darlington Street as applicable for banners, and then granting the project $10,000 to help with installation in year-one.
The grant will go a long way to ensuring this most worthwhile of projects can be up and in place this October.
It is to be hoped, and is expected, that this project will find broad support from families wanting veteran family members honoured, to businesses and groups willing to help with the work and funding of the project. That is what the Canada the veterans helped ensure is all about, working together for good causes.
