Remembrance Day services in Aldergrove will begin with a parade to the Royal Canadian Legion branch at 26607 Fraser Hwy. where a plaque will be dedicated at the cenotaph in memory of local soldiers who died in the First and Second World Wars.

Parade marshal Shaun Francis, said those who want to march will meet at 10:30 a.m. at 268th and Old Yale Road, just off Fraser Highway, while the military vehicles that have become an annual tradition of the event will assemble down the road. (See related story, page B14)

鈥淭he majority of the parade will form up on Old Yale [Road], and our good friend with all the military equipment is usually on 264th,鈥� Francis explained.

鈥淎nd then we鈥檒l be marching off at 10:30 and then making our way to the cenotaph, where we鈥檒l be assembled for the Remembrance service.鈥�

Francis noted the only part that will be different is the dedication of the bronze plaque bearing the names of 59 First World War dead and 61 Second World War dead. It鈥檚 a project headed by branch second vice president Owen Burdett, sports chairman Jack Michael Nicholls, and Vivian Lillico, a retired Master Cpl. and 20-year veteran, currently Sgt-at-arms for the ladies auxiliary.

鈥淲hat we鈥檝e done is try to find all the names,鈥� Burdett told the 91原创 Advance Times.

鈥淲e鈥檝e gathered all the names in 91原创 from all the different sources, to get them in one place at the legion here, so that it鈥檚 a focal point on Remembrance Day, in that these people get remembered.鈥�

That was the target, but Lillico, who devoted long hours to researching names, noted finding complete records has been a challenge.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not too much [information] and it鈥檚 very hard to find,鈥� Lillico discovered.

READ ALSO: Remembering their names

Lillico鈥檚 search for names took her to archives in Ottawa, graveyards in Murrayville and Fort 91原创, and to 91原创 historian and author Warren Sommer, who wrote 鈥淐anucks in Khaki: 91原创, the Lower Mainland, and the Great War of 1914 to 1918.鈥�

鈥淪ome of the names are just off the cenotaphs. So I only have their initials. The archives didn鈥檛 have any information,鈥� Lillico said.

鈥淚鈥檓 sorry to say, it鈥檚 still not correct, there are omissions,鈥� Lillico advised.

Researching the names has been an unexpectedly emotional process for the veteran solider, who describes herself as a 鈥渢ough military girl,鈥� but was still moved by the stories she uncovered.

鈥淭hese young boys were 20,鈥� she explained, some as young as 18.

鈥淪uch short lives, you know, they won鈥檛 grow old.鈥�

The work was funded by a federal government grant to spruce up war memorials.

Next year, an identical plaque will be attached to the cenotaph at Douglas Park in 91原创 City, delayed to allow time to sandblast the memorial, Lillico said.

READ ALSO: Aldergrove branch celebrates 60th anniversary

This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the Aldergrove branch, which was formed 1963 when a small group of retired soldiers from 91原创 and Matsqui District met at the Vasa Hall in Aldergrove and selected a veteran of both world wars, George McDonald, as honourary branch president, with Len McNernie named president.

While some Lower Mainland legion branches have gone under due to declining membership and financial problems, the Aldergrove branch has managed to survive and even thrive, but it has not been without a struggle, current president Deb Gray observed during their anniversary celebration in September.

鈥淚t used to have very good times, and there was rough times, and now we鈥檝e pulled through, and we鈥檙e back to good times again,鈥� Gray commented.

The Aldergrove branch moved into its current home, at 26607 Fraser Hwy., in October of 1969.