On Saturday Nov 4th, our local Kingsville and Cottam Scouting groups and a group of community supporters, comprised of nearly 60 volunteers, spent the afternoon locating, installing Canadian flags, and cleaning the gravestones and embossed maple leaves that mark the final resting place of our fallen heroes.

The event was the brainchild of Sgt. Roger Mercer PO2 of HMCS Hunter, and Dan Ireland, a Cottam Scout Troop Scouter.

Last year, a much smaller group comprised of Cottam Scouts, Ford Motor Veterans, Councillor Larry Patterson and several representatives from HMCS Hunter was able to clean approximately 50 stones and crosses at the Cottam Trinity Graveyard located between Essex and Cottam.

This year, Dan Ireland said, “We wanted the event to be even bigger!”

Through Sgt. Mercer’s contacts, Dan was once again able to get The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWWGC) in Ottawa to support the event.

The CWWGC is responsible for maintaining, guarding, classifying, and tracking all Canadian war monuments, both here in Canada and in every country where Canadian soldiers, both men and women, have fallen. They provide special instructions for cleaning these special markers as well as reporting issues about them.

Due to the size of Kingsville’s Greenhill Cemetery and the large number of special markers — there are several hundred —  the Cottam Scouting Group reached out to Kingsville’s Scouting Group, as well as additional community supporters from the Ford Motor Company Veterans Council in Windsor, our Town’s Councillors and representatives from HMCS Hunter, our local Naval Reserve.

The event was also attended by Veterans from Kingsville’s Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 188. Several Veterans spoke to the attending crowd.

Mary-Maureen and Jay Atkin of the Kingsville Legion were instrumental in helping to organize this auspicious event.

One Veteran thanked the youth for their attendance. “You young people and volunteers don’t understand how important this day is to us. We are so thankful that you would take the time out of your day to honour us, our families, and those men and women that have fallen. This show of respect is truly humbling,” he said as his voice cracked.

Chris Barnes, Site Manager of Ford Motor Company, and an army Veteran himself, was teary-eyed as he told the attendees, “As a man who lost many close friends in Afghanistan, what you are doing here today means the world to people like me. You are truly doing something special for the community, and our veterans deserve this. Our team at Ford is so proud to be a part of this.”

In thanks, the local Legionaries provided a wonderful pizza luncheon for the attendees at a local Church.

Scouter Sam Puddy of Kingsville exclaimed, “Being part of this has been so special, we hope this continues and together we are able to expand the event even further. This was truly something special.”

Dan Ireland stated, “I truly hope that when all these families come out Saturday and during this Veterans week to see their Grandfathers, Grandmothers, and other fallen family members that they are humbled and appreciative of the efforts of all these people. This is the least we can do for those who have given so much.”

Councilor Sheri Lowrie and Deputy Mayor Kim DeYong were among the volunteers for the days events. They were very pleased with the support from the community and were quick to state how proud they are of the local youth.

“The town is a proud supporter of local Scouting, and I’m so pleased we could be part of this,” said Lowrie.

Deputy Mayor Kim DeYong stated, “It is important that we remember the sacrifices of our veterans and it is great to see our youth honouring them by cleaning and marking their headstones with a Canadian Flag.”

While many of the Councillors were unavailable due to other scheduling conflicts, it should be noted that each one, including the Mayor himself, sent a letter of support to the Scouting group.

Councillor Larry Patterson, a staunch supporter of youth organizations in our area, contacted several of our team members to thank them personally, and volunteered to assist if there was anything else he could help with.

“This is truly a good news story for the community. This is what it’s all about,” he said.

We shall remember them.