A ceremony was held Saturday to commemorate the installation of a new Veterans Crosswalk connecting city hall to Riverside Veterans' Memorial Park.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Veterans from the Royal Canadian Legion, United Services Institute, various veteran motorcycle groups, members of the Army and Sea cadets, as well as local politicians, private veterans and citizens gathered Saturday morning for a ceremonial event to commemorate the recent installation of a Veterans’ Crosswalk downtown.
“I applaud everybody’s sacrifice,” addressed Scott Shaw, president Medicine Hat Royal Canadian Legion, during the ceremony. “We shouldn’t turn our backs on our veterans, as so many other regions have. This city has always supported its veterans, and I dare say it will continue to support its veterans to the nth degree.”
The ceremony included several speeches and a military band at the crosswalk located at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and First Street SE, connecting city hall to Riverside Veterans’ Memorial Park.
The crosswalk was made possible through a request to the city from Edward Devine, who served with the Canadian Forces for 40 years, including14 years in active war zones, and was decorated by Queen Elizabeth II.
“It’s all about veterans, we must remember veterans,” said Devine. “With so many veterans in Medicine Hat, a lot of them have got mental illnesses, physical illnesses, caused by their time in service.”
Devine hopes the crosswalk will provoke residents and visitors to take a moment to honour military veterans for their service and sacrifice for the freedoms of this country.
“It’s a highlight that we have a lot of veterans in Medicine Hat, and we should never forget them.”
City council approved a motion to support the request of a commemorative crosswalk from Devine during a Sept. 15 meeting, and crews were able to quickly instal the crosswalk ahead of Remembrance Day.
“It’s very good that we’ve got this now in (October) before Remembrance Day, but don’t forget,” said Devine. “Remembrance Day is one day a year … Veterans committed more than one day of their lives to the military and the services, so we need to look at how to publish more on veterans.”
Devine says he plans to share ideas to improve conditions at Riverside Veterans’ Memorial Park with the mayor and newly elected council, including a request to repaint the park’s Second World War tank and improved maintenance.
“I treat Memorial Park like a graveyard, and it should be like a graveyard. It should be peaceful, quiet, safe, clean, for soldiers and veterans to come down and reflect,” said Devine.
The crosswalk is painted with specialized traffic marking paint in Legion standard custom white and red colours. The crosswalk reads, “Lest we forget” and features a silhouette of a soldier.
The Remembrance Poppy is absent from the crosswalk as it is a Legion trademark and is not to be used in a situation where it will be walked upon.
The city will host its annual service on Remembrance Day, however details have not been officially released.
