Soldier’s Plot work completed
CELEBRATION HELD FOR FIELD OF HONOUR SOLDIER’S PLOT AT MOUNTAIN VIEW CEMETERY
Asmall but dedicated group of Lethbridge residents came out Sunday morning to help rededicate the newly refurbished Soldier’s Plot in the Mountain View Cemetery Field of Honour. Despite severe windy conditions, the mood of the occasion was joyful, and those present were committed to doing justice to the 120 men and women who lie in the ground of the Soldier’s Plot.
Over the last four years, local organizers have strived to get new headstones for the First and Second World War graves which had deteriorated due to weathering or age, and restore some of the sparkle on this early war monument in the city.
The restoration work was largely completed in 2017, said Lethbridge Legion public relations co-chair Glenn Miller, but two attempts late last year to do a formal rededication ceremony were shut down because of bad weather. Miller said organizers knew the wind would be a factor Sunday, but decided to go ahead and brace it out to get this chapter on the Soldier’s Plot closed.
“We were going ahead with a sense of purpose,” confirmed Miller, who also acted as emcee for the ceremony. “The weather did co-operate, all things considered in southern Alberta. It was a very significant day for us to be able to accomplish and close the loop on this particular dedication.”
Miller said he was proud to be part of the drive leading up to the restoration effort, and thanked the City and other partner organizations, namely the Last Post Fund and Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who helped the General Stewart Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion accomplish what was “proper and what was right” by these deceased veterans.
Last Post Fund representative Maj. Ruby Brydges (ret.) was also on hand to help rededicate the Soldier’s Plot. As a veteran herself, she said the ceremony on Sunday was poignant and moving.
“It makes me very proud to see people are carrying this (Soldier’s Plot) on,” she said, “and not just people who are veterans and who served. It is really heart-warming.”
Etta Hale’s father, First World War veteran Hubert Smith, is buried in the Soldier’s Plot. She thanked all who worked so hard to restore the dignity and memory of those like her father who are buried there.
“I remember how I loved him,” said Hale, who bent down despite her advanced age to place flowers and a small Canadian flag before her father’s newly restored headstone. “It makes me feel so good that he is remembered. I am so glad this was done because the old stone was faded away, and it couldn’t be read anymore.”