Vermilion, Alberta. Ever since the
formation of the Vermilion Branch of the Great
War Veterans' Association (later the Canadian
Legion, Post 11), it had been the ambition of the
organization to have a monument erected in the
town as a permanent memorial of the part taken by
the men and women of Vermilion and district.
With this object in view, a special Memorial
Fund was started by the veterans in the hope that,
at some time, it would expand into a sum
sufficient to make the project an accomplished
fact. The fund lay dormant until, at a meeting in
early 1930, it was decided that an effort should
be made to raise the balance necessary to erect a
fitting memorial. A Memorial Committee was set up
and a study was made of a number of plans
submitted from a number of sources. It was
decided that a stone monument of the
"lighthouse" type would best embody the
wishes of the community in its desires to
remember those who had served. Permission was
sought from the town council to erect the
memorial in the Town Park.
The approximate cost of the memorial was
estimated to be about $750 and, of that amount,
Post 11 already had $450 in hand. A Memorial Fund
Committee consisting of S.G. Brass (chairman),
F.G. Harrington, H. Reid and T. Watts was set up
to raise the balance of $300. News items began to
appear in the Vermilion Standard as donations
came in from the town, the district and
interested persons from as far away as Montreal.
Meanwhile, the contract for the actual erection
of the Memorial was given to William
"Scotty" Swanson, who had learned his
stone masonry in Scotland and examples of whose
work could be found in the Banff Springs Hotel
and in Jasper National Park. A call was made for
volunteers to transport local rock from here and
there in the district.
In early July, the Memorial was reported by The
Standard as "rapidly taking form" and
the Legion was making plans for its unveiling on
August 4th, the 16th anniversary of the outbreak
of hostilities in 1914. Invited groups included
the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Cubs and Brownies,
the Legion Ladies Auxiliary, the I.O.D.E. and the
Vermilion Board of Trade. In addition, General
Griesbach and Colonel Jamieson were expected to
take part. An invitation was also sent to Rev.
H.A. Edwards, then at Jasper, Alberta. The
Vermilion Band had agreed to take part.
Collections for the fund continued and the
Ladies of the Auxiliary put on a Tag Day, August
1st and 2nd, Vermilion Fair days. It was
announced that further contributions could be
left at The Standard office or at Long's Drug
Store.
The Legion members met at 10 a.m. on August
3rd for the purpose of laying the names of their
fallen comrades in the Memorial before it was
sealed up and made ready for the unveiling the
following day.
The committee in charge of the actual
unveiling ceremony had some anxious moments on
the day of the event. Delayed by a train wreck on
his journey, Rev. H.A. Edwards was forced to
drive by taxi from Edmonton and made a dramatic
arrival exactly at 3:30 p.m. when the parade was
assembled at the Memorial Hall.
In his dedicatory address, Rev. Edwards took
his texts from Joshua and Genesis. The first
scripture, Edwards said, was "What mean ye
by these stones?" and the second was
"The place whereon thou standest is holy
ground." The monument before them was about
to be solemnly dedicated to the memory of all the
men - 83 in number - who went away from this town
and surrounding districts and laid down their
lives. The meaning was clear and ought to be
remembered, and the place itself, for that
reason, ought to be kept clean and cherished as a
sacred place.
Tibbit, the photographer, took a photograph at
this point in the service. The singing of the
hymn, "O God Our Help in Ages Past", was
followed by the sounding of "Reveille",
after which the president, Mr. George Maxwell,
formally requested Gen. Griesbach to unveil the
memorial.
Wreaths and other floral offerings were placed
on the monument by representatives of
organizations as well as by individual
sympathizers.
"An Instinct of
Comradeship," Branch 11 History,
75th Anniversary, Royal
Canadian Legion,
Branch 11, Vermilion, Alberta; 1994.
Today, the memorial still sits in the town park
just a short distance away from the Town Hall. It
has been in use every November 11th since its
dedication and on a few other occasions, as well.
The numbers of veterans who march in the
annual parade have dropped considerably in recent
years. Only about two dozen actually march but
another 40 or 50 watch from the sidelines not up
to a march in the bitter cold of November.
The Rev. Edwards mentioned in the article was
the person who, more than anyone, was responsible
for the formation of a veterans' support
organization. It was through his efforts that the
Memorial Hall was purchased from the Bank of
Commerce. The Pipe Band mentioned was a Legion
band which continued to function until about
1980.
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