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By Sheldon Spackman

honouring fallen soldiers

Flags of Remembrance in search of sponsors

Jun 5, 2019 | 7:00 PM

A Sylvan Lake man committed to documenting and preserving the stories of Canada’s veterans is hoping central Albertans will once again step up in support of this year’s Flags of Remembrance ceremony.

To be held at Centennial Park in Sylvan Lake Sept. 21, the annual fundraiser hosted by Veterans Voices of Canada is in search of sponsors for 128 plaques of honour.

Al Cameron, founding executive director for Veterans Voices of Canada, says the plaques represent the roughly 128,000 Canadian military and RCMP killed or missing in action and service personnel lost in armed conflict from the Boer War to current missions.

“People can give tribute and honour and pay homage to their first responder, military or RCMP by sponsoring a plaque of honour,” he explains. “The idea is for people to walk that flag line and read a name that is on each one of those plaques of honour. A lot of times if we don’t read these names on these plaques of honour, we won’t hear these names and they just won’t be seen or heard from.”

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Come September 21, Cameron says the honour plaques will be displayed on the 128 flag poles that are part of the Flags of Remembrance ceremony at each of their national sites, including in Sylvan Lake, Windsor, Ontario and Sydney, Nova Scotia.

“Each of our sites takes 128 names that are sponsored by individuals, businesses, family members, whoever wants to honour their person,” says Cameron. “We put those names on these maple leaf plaques of honour and they’re there for all to see for that two months. All of the flags and plaques of honour will come down November 12.”

Cameron says money received through sponsorship of the honour plaques goes towards paying for the history they’re helping to keep alive.

“The travelling and all of the expenses that we incur to run the organization, that costs money,” admits Cameron. “So this actually turned into our annual fundraiser, our only annual fundraiser. So we’re calling out for people to not only give honour and tribute to their hero but we are looking for support for our organization as well to keep it running.”

Cameron says if all 128 plaques of honour are sponsored, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Can Praxis, an organization that uses horses to help soldiers recover from war and regain their family relationships.

“We’re collaborating with them right now to help them do what they do,” says Cameron. “So by sponsoring a plaque of honour, you will in fact be helping several organizations do what we need to do to be able to fulfill our mission. We ask for a minimum $250 donation.”

Following the Flags of Remembrance period that ends Nov. 12, Cameron says those that sponsored a plaque will receive it back and the flag that accompanied it during a special ceremony to be held later.

“They can either keep it themselves or they can give it to the person or family that they sponsored or gave tribute to,” explains Cameron. “This is the first year we’ll be giving tribute and honour to our first responders through this event. They’re putting their lives on the line a lot of times every day and this is another way to give homage to them.”

To sponsor a plaque of honour for this year’s Flags of Remembrance ceremony, visit www.vetvoicecan.org.

Sponsorship deadline is July 1.