The Maryfield and District Lions Club is taking on a project to honour war veterans from the community and surrounding areas.
Chair of the Lions Veteran Project, Robert Hill says they’re going to honour 70 veterans with signs displayed on streetlights in the communities of Maryfield and Fairlight.
“The way the signs are set up…as you come down the street in one direction you’ll see a veteran on one side and then coming the other way there will be a different veteran on the other side of the sign.” Hill said.
The signs are 2-feet wide and 4-feet high, and Hill says many contributed to make this a reality.
“A lof of the families contributed to this project as well. We had our local welder build the signs, they’re all metal signs, so he’s welded them up. Then our local autobody guy has taken them, sandblasted them, and painted them for us, and these guys have donated a lot of their time for this project,” Hill said, adding a local business did the design and is having the signs printed.
The Lions Club started with a list of 44 veterans, and Hill says there is still a list of veterans whose families they haven’t been able to contact. He also mentioned this will be an ongoing project.
He says the inspiration came from other communities that have honoured veterans in a similar manner.
“So I took it back to our club here and decided to go ahead with it, we applied for a grant through Veteran Affairs for 5-thousand dollars to assist us with that, and we were successful, so we did receive some funding,” he said.
An unveiling ceremony of the veteran’s signs will be held on Friday, November 5 on Main Street in Maryfield at 11 a.m.
A Beef on a Bun lunch will follow but it will be take-out only, and COVID rules will apply for the event.
“The Lions Club is pleased to be part of this project to ensure the sacrifices these men and Women did for their families, their communities and their country are recognized and remembered.” Hill said in a subsequent email.