Time for engagement on a new memorial: reader

May 31, 2017 · 0 Comments

(Re: Vimy anniversary put purpose of Cenotaph into perspective)

There’s not much to be added to John Sander’s eloquent letter calling for Council to reconsider its decision to place a LAV in the Cenotaph Park.
At the time, it was obvious that Councillors were unprepared to debate this issue and didn’t want to be labelled as “anti-veteran,” as some told me.
Now the question is, “Who will show bold leadership by proposing a monument to all who have died serving Canada since WW2, and who have not yet been recognized?
Such a monument should be in keeping with the physical and spiritual character of the Cenotaph envisioned and erected under leadership of citizens of Aurora, King Township, and Whitchurch Township in the mid-1920s.
These were small urban and rural communities with limited resources, but with a vision to erect a unique memorial, a memorial that has no equal across Canada.
Now it is up to Council to engage the Royal Canadian Legion with the aim of a providing a new memorial that reflects the character of our Cenotaph, and which would reflect the definition of a cenotaph.
Together they could engage the local artistic community and commission a locally designed work.
Definition: “A sepulchral monument to person(s) whose body elsewhere”, from Greek words meaning, “empty tomb”.

Robert Cook
Aurora