Local war veterans will soon be featured on banners again in downtown Hespeler to pay tribute to their service and to remember them.
Now in its fifth year, the Veterans Banner Program at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #272 has 30 openings for commemorative banners to hang from downtown light poles so that families can remember the lives of veterans who have ties in the community.
"People are proud to see their family members honoured," said Bill Kalbhenn, veteran service officer at the Hespeler branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
“It’s in remembrance We can still remember them. It’s a visual to see the veterans from our city that have done so much for us.”
Each banner displays the name and photo of a veteran from First World War soldiers to recent service members.
Other communities across Canada have adopted the Veterans Banner Program to pay tribute to their local veterans on Remembrance Day.
Although the program is organized by the local legion branches, the banners are paid for by veteran's families.
“Families can sponsor the banner. The veteran has to have lived in Hespeler at one point in time. The banners belong to the family who sponsors them. They pay for the banner themselves, but the legion pays for the installation and the City of Cambridge looks after the permits for us. The Business Association also supports this downtown as well,” Kalbhenn said.
“We put up the banners and the Business Association takes them down. We share the responsibility at the same time.”
For anyone who has a family member that they would like to honour with a veteran banner, Kalbhenn said there are currently 30 openings for banners to be displayed in Branch 272 and downtown Hespeler.
Kalbhenn said the banners will go up the first week of October and will be taken down after Remembrance Day. When not displayed on the poles downtown, they will hang at the legion branch in Hespeler.
“This year, new banners will be displayed in the branch for the first year and then in a cycle of two years downtown over the Remembrance period,” Kalbhenn said.
“On Remembrance Day, the banners will go up downtown. This year I want to get more people involved in recognizing local veterans. The veterans we currently have, we will continue to remember,” Kalbhenn said.
“It would be so great to get all of the veterans that we know of in Hespeler."
Kalbhenn said it's special for families when they come forward as sponsors and have their names included on a veteran banner.
“This is so we don’t forget about them. It’s a special way to recognize our veterans.”
Banners are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
For anyone interested, contact Bill Kalbhenn for an application at [email protected]
