Salute our Veterans street banners should be on display in Essex Centre before Thanksgiving

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative

Essex may be a hockey town, but it is also known for the unwavering way residents recognize the sacrifices fallen soldiers and Veterans made in exchange for the price of freedom.

  That is evident with the replica Spitfire monument and honour wall, cenotaph and memorial, attendance at the annual Remembrance Day ceremony, and because the Essex Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 201) has the most members out of all Southwestern Ontario branches.

  Now, it has the Salute Our Veterans street banner program.

  After three years of planning, coordinating with the Town of Essex to form a street banner policy, waiting for the Essex Centre Streetscape project to wrap-up, and connecting with area families who had a loved one serve their country, the Salute Our Veterans street banner program is ready to launch.

  On Saturday, Salute Our Veterans street banner committee members – Brandon Chartier, Richard Meloche, Wendy Pulleyblank-Cunningham, and Brian Cunningham (which also includes Reverend Kim Gilliland) – were pleased to announce the 40 banners organized for the Essex Centre street banner program have been printed and are ready to be installed along Talbot Street.

  They should be installed before Thanksgiving and will remain up until after Remembrance Day, they noted. They will be on display when the Essex Legion has representatives of 53 different Legions in the area in mid-October as part of the District Convention. Members of the Salute Our Veterans committee are excited about that.

  Next year, the intention is to have them installed earlier, so they are up for Legion Week, which takes place in late September.

  The large 24” x 50” banners include the name and picture of a veteran, the war in which they served, and who sponsored the banner, including the family of the veteran, in addition to the logos of the Essex Legion, the Rotary Club of Essex, and the Essex Centre BIA.

  Pulleyblank-Cunningham couldn’t be more excited to see the program come to fruition after three-years of organizing.

  For the first year of the program, 40 banner spaces were available for Essex Centre, and Pulleyblank-Cunningham said they sold out quickly.

  The Town of Essex originally installed 20 banners as part of the Essex Streetscape project, which were mounted on existing streetlight banner arms in Essex by a third-party contractor at an expense of $1,250. In August, Council agreed to spend an additional $7,000 to have a third-party install the additional, new aftermarket banners arms and the banners for the program in Essex Centre, and for the program in Harrow. The funds came from the Council Contingency Fund.

  A similar program is also taking place in Harrow, operating through the Harrow Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 338). The Salute Our Veterans committee for Essex Centre is working at an arm’s length of the Essex Legion.

  She noted the Harrow and Essex Centre programs worked on their own programs separately, but coordinated when approaching the Town of Essex to ask for support and getting the banners printed.   

  Those wishing to purchase a banner for a loved one who served can inquire about filling out an application at the Essex Legion for possible participation in the program next year. Availability is very limited, Pulleyblank-Cunningham said.

  There is a one-time cost for the banner, but they will be used as part of the program annually, she noted.

  The idea for this program sparked after seeing other smaller communities hosting something similar in recognition of their fallen heroes. That made Pulleyblank-Cunningham and others who would form the committee think why not bring this to Essex Centre.

  “It is an honour to do it to recognize them,” Pulleyblank-Cunningham said of organizing the program.

  Her grandfather, Earl M. Pulleyblank served in the Army during WWI, having lied about his age to enlist at the age of 17. He got gassed at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

   His son, and Pulleyblank-Cunningham‘s uncle, Howard Pulleyblank, served in the Navy in WWII. He was on a Corvette warship during the invasion of Normandy.

  They both returned home after their service.

  “It means a lot,” Pulleyblank-Cunningham said of being able to honour her family members. “To me, they are heroes in our family. We’ve passed these stories onto the next generation.”

  Pulleyblank-Cunningham noted the Essex Legion’s newsletter is featuring one of the Veterans from the banners, including their bio and war story. “We feel that each one of these local war Vets had a story to tell that we may never [have] heard before.”