ARTHUR – The 100th anniversary of the Arthur Cenotaph will be celebrated on Aug. 6, and the Arthur and Area Historical Society is holding an event that afternoon from noon to 4pm at Memorial Park to celebrate.
A ceremony will be held at 1pm, lasting about 45 minutes with dignitaries and guests including: Warden and Wellington North Mayor Andy Lennox, Senator Rob Black, Speaker of the House and Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott, Perth-Wellington MP John Nater, Perth-Wellington MPP Matt Rae and Reverend Kevin Cull of Arthur’s Grace Anglican Church.
Veteran Lyle Fair will play the Lament and the Arthur Legion will present a Colour Guard.
Faye Craig has organized a cake for the afternoon to be enjoyed by visitors and there will also be a light lunch. A biographical sketch of the Legion will also be shared.
Jeff McKee, lead organizer of the event, has been preparing a book about the Arthur Cenotaph which is anticipated to be ready in time for the anniversary.
“I’ve been busy just collecting war information,” stated McKee. He has been extracting newspaper columns all the way up from a century ago relating to the Arthur Cenotaph and the land on which it is located.
“I’ve tried to find events that were happening in Memorial Park over the course of the last century,” McKee began.
“It’s an inanimate object, but there’s still things that are going on [and] there’s been 10 significant events in the park over that time period.”
McKee adds the book will continue to get updated as more materials are uncovered and more history associated with the cenotaph continues to happen.
The historical society has done small events previously in the community, but this 100th anniversary celebration is the first event that has taken major planning.
‘Make our world a little better’
“We will try and make our world a little better” McKee stated. “I think we’re [going to] make our world a little better whether we make our world a little better for 10 of us, or whether we make the world a little better for 200 of us.”
McKee explained the historical society anticipates the event will be a quiet afternoon, during which people can visit and enjoy the park, have a chat, and honour the veterans memorialized on the cenotaph.
“If we’re the most patriotic community in Ontario, or Canada, then we [have to] do our best to continue to try and live up to that,” said McKee.
McKee explained that in 1942 an article came out in the Toronto Star naming Arthur Canada’s most patriotic village due to the number of families from the area that had children, siblings, parents, etc. who participated in the war.
According to an article on RoadStories, Arthur had a population of 836, and 116 of those citizens served in uniform overseas.
“That was forgotten for a little while, and then whatever happened in about 1995, it got brought up [again] in Toronto,” said McKee.
“And that time the comment kind of stuck.”
For the upcoming event, McKee and the rest of the historical society have put up around 78 crosses in the park for the people from the community which served in the war.
He recognizes that there are many more, so there will also be a list of veterans from the community over the past century and a quarter, McKee told the Community News.
There are over 925 who participated in a war, according to McKee, and everyone is welcome to attend Memorial Park on Aug. 6 to honour fallen soldiers and veterans for the 100th anniversary of the cenotaph.
