By Lawrence Powell

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

“They are the ones who made it possible for us to enjoy the life we have today,” said George Thompson.

The Lawrencetown resident and Legion member was talking about people like Charles Miller who served in the Boer War. And Chester Barteaux, J.A.H. Church, and Dr. L.R. Morse who served in the First World War. Church is the man who started the survey school in Lawrencetown.

They’re all buried in Fairview Cemetery on Highway 201 in Lawrencetown and Thompson wants to make sure they are not forgotten. So he’s building a monument to them and 141 others who served in the military from the Boer War right up to the present.

“In 2005 we moved the cenotaph from the graveyard to where people could see it – to the fire hall. It was the only place in town that was suitable,” he said. “So many people in town didn’t know we had one (cenotaph). When I say ‘we’ I mean the Legion.”

But one local resident told Thompson he’d like to see something at the graveyard in the cenotaph’s place.

“I said ‘leave it with me and I’ll see what we can come up with,’” he said. “I started doing some checking around to see what we could put in its place.”

Thompson contacted Middleton Funeral Home, an agent for Heritage Monuments.

“I told them what we’d like to do,” he said. “A monument with the names of all the vets buried at the cemetery put on it. There are 145 in total and it goes back to the Boer War.”

The names include those who served in both world wars, Korea, with the American Forces, and Canadian regular forces and reserves.

He stressed that not all of those buried at the cemetery and named on the monument died in wars, but were all in the military services and dedicated to protecting their country.

Besides honouring the area’s military, the monument also provides a service for families digging into their genealogy. A simple stop at the monument will tell them if an ancestor is buried there.

“I’ve had a lot of calls over the years from people wanting to know who was buried in the cemetery,” he said. “Now they can come to the cemetery and know.”

The monument isn’t a Legion project. Thompson took on the task himself and with the help of a committee raised funds, designed the monument, and if all goes well, a dedication ceremony will be held June 2 at 1:30 p.m.

The Lawrencetown Legion is backing the project by allowing Thompson to use its name, and donation cheques are made out to the Legion Monument Fund.

And the support he’s received to date has been good.

“I’m overwhelmed by the response I’ve been getting,” Thompson said, explaining that the people he’s talked to think it’s a really good idea that somebody is doing it.

In fact the support from family of those buried at Fairview Cemetery has been so positive that Thompson has managed to raise three-quarters of the $4,500 price tag.

“I’m within $1,000 of what I need,” he said.

Regardless of the funding shortfall, the monument will be in place by June 2 and an unveiling and dedication service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thompson is inviting other Legions in Zone 9 to attend, but the special occasion is open to everyone – and he hopes a good crowd will show up.

“We’re honouring them (military personnel buried at Fairview) for what they did for us,” he said.

After the dedication, the Legion will be holding an open house that will also be a remembrance of Vimy Ridge on the famous battle’s 90th anniversary. While the First World War battle was so long ago, and half a world away, two local people who lost family members at Vimy will be laying wreaths at the monument dedication.

Thompson glanced through the list of names that are being carved into the monument, and it reads like the current Lawrencetown section in the phone book.

Floyd Smith and J. McLane Stevenson were in both the First and Second World Wars; Robert Durling still has family in town; Frederick Whalley was once the Legion Zone commander; Clint Hamilton was a well-known local carpenter; and the list goes on.

And names will be added to the list, Thompson said. Space has been left for the names of those who have served and who are still living.