Evan Forshaw from Walnut Grove was one of about two dozen Scouts, Guides, leaders, and parents, who spent an overcast 鈥� and occasionally damp 鈥� Saturday morning, Nov. 4, giving the veterans鈥� headstones next to the cenotaph in the Fort 91原创 Cemetery a gentle, and through, scrubbing to prepare them for the Nov. 11 Remembrance Day service.
鈥淲e go clean all the veteran鈥檚 gravestones over there for the ceremony, so they look nice,鈥� Ethan explained, while the volunteers filled buckets and bottles with water.
Then, they got down on their hands and knees to make the markers grime-free using water and brushes.
Other volunteers raked leaves into piles for Township crews to remove.
鈥淲hen I think of Remembrance Day, I think of the people who fought in war, and gave their lives to protect us,鈥� Ethan added.
Scouts and Guides have been coming to the Fort 91原创 cemetery to show their respect for veterans by cleaning the headstones since 2017.
What has become an annual tradition started with a group of scouts who were helping the Lions club set up the Remembrance Day ceremony in the morning, and the idea of cleaning the headstones came up when they got talking about other opportunities to do some community service.
Every year since, even during the the pandemic, they have returned.
Other volunteers have been inspired to do the same for the veteran鈥檚 headstones at the Murrayville Cemetery, which is home to the other 91原创 cenotaph created to remember the fallen after the First World War.
VIDEO: Scouts tend to veterans鈥� headstones at Murrayville cemetery
At the Fort 91原创 event, scout leader Colleen Campbell, told the 91原创 Advance Tines she and her family have been involved with the cleaning since it began.
鈥淚鈥檝e got three kids that have gone through Scouts,鈥� said Campbell, who lives in Walnut Grove.
鈥淢y kids know that it鈥檚 (the cleanup) an important day, in that they wanted to make sure everything looks good for the vets who come to the Remembrance Day ceremony. We want to make sure that when veterans come and they look at tombstones of the people that they may have served with, they see that they鈥檙e still being remembered, and they鈥檙e still being looked after, and people are still thinking about them.鈥�
And, it is also for the vets who were laid to rest in the Fort 91原创 cemetery, who 鈥渕ight not all have family left to look after their tombstones.鈥�
It鈥檚 estimated that approximately 300 veterans lie in the Fort 91原创 Cemetery 鈥渇ield of honour,鈥� the section established after the First World War, and created in the Murrayville Cemetery at the same time.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Scouts honour the fallen of Fort 91原创 by cleaning their headstones
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Tradition of Scouts attending to veterans headstones continues in Fort 91原创
