Parksville’s Veteran Remembrance Program
October 4, 2021
From October 5 through November, commemorative banners to honour local veterans who gave their lives in World War I and World War II, will be displayed along Island Highway East between McMillan and McVickers Streets. Approved by Parksville Council in 2020, this program honours the sixty veterans whose names are listed on the Parksville Cenotaph.
Despite challenging and extensive research to find photos and veteran information, we are pleased to expand the program in 2021 by adding four more banners as well as a new section on the City’s website which tells the incredible and heartwarming stories of the World War I and World War II veterans. Please take a few minutes to read these individual stories, we know you won’t be disappointed. Our sincere thanks to researcher, Valda Stefani, who pursued the stories through archives worldwide, establishing relationships with military museums and other researchers and conducting interviews to ensure we were able to learn about as many veterans as possible. https://www.parksville.ca/cms.asp?wpID=570
As you will read in the stories, many of the local young men who enlisted, especially in World War I, were recent arrivals from such places as the United Kingdom and Australia and were too young to have started families, adding to the challenge of finding photographs and details. We thank the many residents for sharing their personal stories and valuable information about family members, information not otherwise obtainable through archives or museums. This process of gathering information and stories to personalize the lives of these veterans has been rewarding for the City. Our search for missing details continues and the City website lists those veterans; if you can help, contact Deb Tardiff (250 954-3073; communications@parksville.ca).
2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the iconic Poppy symbol of remembrance in Canada. This year’s Poppy campaign begins October 29 with the annual flag raising ceremony by the Legion. Legion Week, October 11 to 17, will be recognized at the Royal Canadian Legion Mt Arrowsmith Branch #49 with a series of events. Branch 49 is located at 146 Hirst Avenue West in Parksville.
