It was a trip to Vancouver that inspired Tami Hall. While visiting her father, a proud Korean War veteran, in Vancouver she saw banners that celebrated veterans hanging from light standards in the city. She believed that Yorkton should do the same, and that inspiration is now hanging through the city.
鈥淚 saw hundreds of banners similar to the ones we have here lining the streets, and it just stirred my heart. It made me think that we had to bring this back to Yorkton. We have such a strong community here that pays tribute to our veterans every Remembrance聽 Day. Having the banner program extends that to at least four to six weeks. We鈥檒l bring extra knowledge and extra honour to our veterans.鈥�
Hall emphasizes that while she was inspired, she doesn鈥檛 deserve all the credit, and that it was the entire committee, as well as the Royal Canadian Legion Alexander Ross Branch #77 which sponsored the project and the City of Yorkton that helped the project come to fruition.
This is the first step in the project, and the eventual goal is to get banners on not only Broadway and Darlington, where they hang now, but also to side streets. Each banner needs a sponsor, and Hall said that they can be anyone, whether it鈥檚 schools, businesses, relatives or people who just want to support the idea.
With the Remembrance Day service in 2020 being small, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is one way to encourage remembrance without a gathering, which Hall believes is important.
Yorkton is not the only place in Saskatchewan which has done a banner project, and Hall believes this is something that towns not only in Saskatcehwan, but across the province should try to emulate. She said Yorkton鈥檚 veterans were not alone, and that all veterans deserve to be celebrated.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to celebrate war, we want to celebrate peace and the people that brought us people. The people who brought us the freedoms that we have here, and honour what they gave us.鈥�
That goal to celebrate all veterans was also part of a push to include First Nations veterans, people who Tribal Chief Isabel O鈥橲oup reminded the crowd were not treated with respect when they returned from war.
鈥淥ur history in Canada is one of many wonderful things, but we also have a dark history when it comes to our First Nations people, and it is important that we start changing that, that we work towards truth and reconciliation, that we remember our history in all forms, and work to make Canada even better than it is already. It very important to have First Nations veterans recognized, to have veterans of every race, creed, colour, background. All of our veterans should be up, and we should be paying tribute to them all.鈥�
Legion President Ken Gordon said this first step has exceeded their expectations, they thought that they could hit 50 banners this year, but there are 81, thanks to the outpouring of support of local residents and businesses.
鈥淚t means a lot to see the interest we got from the community. And we know there鈥檚 a lot more veterans out there that need to be honoured in this way.鈥�
Beyond the banners themselves, there are also QR Codes where people are directed, on their phone, to biographical information on the different veterans. This is also available at yorktonlegion.ca. Randy Goulden will also host a walking tour on Oct. 9, starting at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall.
