By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
DUNNVILLE—Those who took part in this year’s second annual Flags of Remembrance will want to earmark January 28 on their calendars.
Flags of Remembrance is a display honouring veterans and first responders in Dunnville’s Wingfield Park from September to November. Anyone who sponsored a flag during last year’s ceremony, or the inaugural ceremony in 2021, is invited to attend the presentation at the Dunnville Legion, beginning at 1 p.m., to collect their flag to bring home.
Brent O’Connor, chief organizer of Flags of Remembrance and Veteran Services Officer at the Dunnville Legion, said he couldn’t be happier with how last year’s ceremony turned out. Although final tallies are not yet in, he said that the event attracted very generous participation from the community. Many stepped up to sponsor a flag and plaque commemorating a living or deceased family member or friend with first responder or military experience, and many more made financial donations.
“This year was absolutely phenomenal,” said O’Connor. “Donations were really good. The Branch came up with $3,000. The (Province) was supposed to do $2,500, but they ended up donating $5,000. That was a huge increase…. That was just before Toby Barrett stepped down.”
All remaining funds after expenses go toward programs designed to make life better for veterans in Ontario. This year’s remaining funds, with a total amount expected to be announced at the presentation, will go to the Legion-backed ‘Leave the Streets Behind’ program, aimed at helping homeless veterans find lodging and setting them up with the essentials they need.
O’Connor is hoping Flags of Remembrance founder Al Cameron can make the trip to take part in the presentation this month. Cameron, who runs the organization ‘Veterans Voice of Canada’, founded Flags of Remembrance in 2014. In 2022, the ceremony was held in five locations across Canada, including Dunnville.
O’Connor is proud of the community for getting involved each year.
“It’s fantastic to see those flags unveiled,” he said. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming for some people – it’s a beautiful sight, especially when the wind is blowing. You couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The event was supported last year by local politicians, with then-mayor Ken Hewitt speaking at the ceremony in September, and MPP Bobbi Ann Brady and her husband helping O’Connor and his team take down the flags once things were wrapped up following Remembrance Day.
During the inaugural year, O’Connor and his team ran into some trouble as vandalism and theft cast a dark shadow on the proceedings. This past year, however, was much better.
“All the publicity of the thefts last year (2021) really, really helped out; this year (2022) there was only two flags missing,” said O’Connor. “We had 19 gone last year, which is a lot of money and takes away from us trying to do what we’re doing.”
O’Connor said that with things wrapping up on 2022’s ceremony and fundraiser, he is already looking ahead to an “even bigger” event this year with fundraising aimed at funding service dogs for vets.
“I believe there are only four qualified training facilities in Canada that actually do service dogs. It takes approximately $25,000 and two years to train a dog,” he explained. “I know a few guys that have services dogs; it’s amazing what those dogs can detect when the veterans start to lose it a little bit. The dogs are right there for them…. It’s a very great cause to donate to.”
He concluded, “The community support has been phenomenal and I’m hoping next time we can outdo what we did this year.”
