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Navan
Cenotaph to be restored and relocated
On June 15th,
2009, The Navan Community Association appointed Ross Bradley and Margaret
MacNeill to form a committee to determine the necessary requirements to
restore the existing Cenotaph.
The Navan Restoration
Committee members, in addition to Ross and Margaret, include Gord Curry,
Sam Dagg, Hal MacPherson, Basil McFadden, Eileen Vaillancourt, Bob Vaillancourt,
Jean Muggleton and Fred Muggleton. Representing the City of Ottawa are Steve
Kerfoot and Suzanne Sanford and representing Councillor Rob Jellett is Linda
Payant.
The Committee
is chaired by Ross Bradley. Other individuals from the community, including
a representative from the Cumberland Township Agricultural Society, will
be appointed to the committee in due course.
The existing
Cenotaph, which was made possible through the initiative of several Navan
veterans of WW2, was unveiled in June, 1987. The current Cenotaph Committee
recognizes the significant contribution they made to honour all those from
our community who served their country and all who gave their lives in order
that we might have the freedoms we enjoy today. However, for the following
reasons, the Committee feels that a new location and Cenotaph restoration
are required:
- The present
location of the Cenotaph and its significance has been diminished by the
recent addition to the Arena to the point where people looking for the
Cenotaph were unable to find it.
- The Cenotaph
is now located in a very high pedestrian and automobile traffic area which
defeats the purpose of a place where a person can go to pay their respects
in a quiet and respectful setting.
- The lettering
on the current Cenotaph has been obliterated through time and recently
had to be painted.
- There are
two names missing and one misspelled in the WW1 Honour Roll.
- There is no
space to add additional names for the NATO and UN campaigns and the War
in Afghanistan. The name of Captain Gary Vaillancourt, CD, who died in
2000 should be added. Captain Vaillancourt's death was the result of his
military service and his name appears in the "In the Service of Canada
Book of Remembrance" in the Peace Tower at Parliament Hill.
- There is no
space for appropriate landscaping in the area surrounding the current
Cenotaph.
- Site lines
and general visibility of the main entrance of the Arena are blocked by
the Cenotaph's existing location.
The current Cenotaph
is to be restored and relocated with provision made to accommodate the necessary
additions mentioned above. This project is made possible only through the
unanimous and generous support of the Board of Directors of the Cumberland
Township Agricultural Society who have agreed to make land available for
the restored Cenotaph to be relocated on the grassed area directly to the
east of the Arena parking lot.
Grants are available
from Veterans Affairs Canada for approved projects of this nature, and that
matter is currently being investigated by the Committee. This project will,
however, require considerable community financial support. The Cenotaph
Restoration Committee is a subcommittee of the Navan Community Association
and has its full support.
This project
is in its very early stages and many decisions with respect to the Cenotaph
restoration, including landscaping, have yet to be made. The committee welcomes
community involvement and will provide periodic updates as they proceed
with this significant endeavour.
This entire community
owes a debt of gratitude to those members of this village, who in 1987 assumed
the responsibility of creating the existing memorial. The present committee
is honoured to continue their work and is committed to ensuring that we
will continue to have a Cenotaph of which we can all be proud.
We are also grateful
to the members of the Fair Board for their generosity in making sure that
all those from this community who served our country in the past, those
who continue to serve, and in particular those who made the supreme sacrifice
are forever honoured and remembered.
Lest we forget.
The Navan Cenotaph
Restoration Committee
(This story
was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.)
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