Consider the challenge met. Janice Wilson certainly does.
She issued a challenge to the residents of the town here, known as Canada’s Most Patriotic Village, to wear red shirts in support of Canadian troops overseas. They were to meet outside her store, Club 177, on the main street at 5:30pm for a village photo.
The problem was, so many people showed up wearing red for Red Shirt Friday, they spilled right down the street. Over 100 people attended the event, and so Wilson decided the best place to take the picture would be the cenotaph.
With Highway 6 traffic busy, the sight of all those red shirts moving down the street was an impressive one.
“It’s amazing; it’s just overwhelming,” she said as people kept dropping by, clad in red. “I had no idea what to expect. It kind of skyrocketed.”
Wellington North Mayor Mike Broomhead was also on hand for the event, wearing a Canada-flag hat.
He noted that Arthur is bidding for the Commemorative Wall to honour all Canadian soldiers, and he said Wellington North council is firmly behind that bid.
He said he hopes to send an enlarged photograph of the troop support to the committee that will recommend where the Commemorative Wall should be located. The idea came from MP Inky Mark, and it is likely he will want it in his western province, but Arthur is making a good case for it.
Broomhead said the council has received a couple of offers of land for the Wall, about five to six acres each, which he suspects will be needed for such a national monument.
“Arthur is still in the running,” Broomhead said. “Certainly, the village of Arthur shows great spirit. Being named Canada’s Most Patriotic Village helps, too.”
The wall would include the names of every Canadian soldier who died in service.
“If we get it in Arthur, we’ll raise the money,” Broomhead predicted.
Wilson told the crowd, “I’m absolutely overwhelmed. I have a great many friends who are soldiers.”
She added, “As we speak, there are soldiers from our community who are putting peace ahead of their own lives.”
Broomhead told the crowd, which consisted of people of all ages, “It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing.”
After the photo, a number of people noted they have family overseas, mainly in Kandahar.
Charlotte and June and Cleve Mullin, of Arthur, have a sister and daughter, Captain Debbie Hynes, in the Air Force, there as a nurse. They also have a cousin, Thomas Mullin, in the Army in Afghanistan.
Kim Pendleton, of Arthur, has a sister, Master Chief Warrant Officer Marie MacDonald, stationed in Afghanistan. Her job is to travel from town to town to help people rebuild their lives after the military ships out. Alice Wilson and Betty McCabe are concerned about their relative, Corporal Thomas Palmer, in the infantry in Kandahar.
Most of those stationed in that country are schedule to be there until April.
