There was a time every summer when the community here would pack the cemetery to honour veterans and decorate and clean the grave sites of loved ones.
Elora Legion member Lynn McClellan remembers those days, and how that tradition died. So does Elora Legion president Ashley Woods, who grew up in town.
When he was a boy, Woods remembers the entire village used to turn out, and the local horticultural society, which created Decoration Day, gave children carnations to place on graves for relatives.
McClellan remembers that when the tradition of Decoration Day ended.
The local Legion branch took it over when the Elora and Salem Horticultural Society gave it up because, as he put it, the Legion was basically holding a Remembrance Day ceremony for about 30 elderly people. It was a lot of work for a small turnout. Newcomers to town who knew nothing about the day, and disinterest among those who did caused the event to die, although McClellan noted it is still a strong tradition in Fergus.
When he was in Panama last winter, McClellan said he shared a table with an American Legion Commander (the equivalent to the Canadian Legion’s president) and learned about flag day.
Americans have always been big on flags, and on their Memorial Day, and on Nov. 11, they place flags on the graves of veterans. McClellan thought that was a nice idea, and he decided to bring it home.
He and other Legion volunteers like Gary Rogers and Gord Brown have been walking through the Elora cemetery with old maps and a list of deceased Legion members.
He noted that some veterans have a poppy on their grave makers, and others have the Legion crest. Some tombstones simply note that the person there was killed overseas.
“We’ve identified about 170,” McClellan said, and added that he believes there are many more.
That is partly because the volunteers have not yet completed their survey of the tombstones, some of which have become difficult to read, and also because some veterans were never members of the legion, and so appear on no lists.
“We’ve still got the old section to do yet,” he said of the cemetery.
But McClellan said all should be honoured.
The Saturday before Dominion Day celebrations in Elora on July 1, members of the legion will place Canadian flags at the grave of every veteran. They will remain for a week and be removed the following Saturday. In November for Remembrance Day, they will again be placed on the graves for a week.
McClelland said he is hoping families of deceased veterans will contact him and let him know about those who might not be on the list of veterans.
He added that he hopes the idea will spread to other Legion branches in the county and beyond.
And, he said, the list should include everybody involved.
“In our view, anyone who joined the Armed Forces, even if they never went overseas, is still a veteran.”
He said anyone with information about a veteran can contact him at 519-846-9187 to ensure their relative is honoured.
