WE NEITR Tae!

the
vintage years

WHERE I live fronts on the
nerth side of the boulevard
space that embraces the
Cenotaph in North

- Vancouver’s Victoria Park.

Across Lonsdale it continues
westward as park space almost as
far as Chesterfield Avenuc. :
Apartment buildings dominate
both sides, north and south, east.
and west, andsoinawaythe —
boulevard serves as the backyards;
we don't have. oo ;

People with dogs to run enjoy
the park daily, youngsters play
catch and kick bails around and in
season it is rife with bodies luring

“a suntan. Just to the cast of the
Cenotaph. siands a tall ungainly
air-raid siren, an ugly reminder of

‘>< the war that ended with V-Day in

' 1945, doomed, we hope, to remain

silent forever,

I've wondered often why it
hasn‘t been removed, it’s so ugly.
but it has finally suk into me that
it too, like the Cenotaph, is a
reminder of the folly of war and
the waste it propagates,

And while Vin at it, dhink it's
most unfortunate that November
11 has become a holiday. {nthe
olden days, when we stopped
everything in its tracks for two
minutes, that was drama, that was
bringing it home strongly.

Now, for 90% of the popula-
tion, it’s a chance to take the kids
up to sce the first snow, or to close
up the summerhouse,
or go Christmas shop-
ping. The advertise-
ments beguile us to do
that very thing. It's
not just wrong, it is
also tactless and care- ,
less and crass.

This Kemembrance
morning promised it
would be miserable,
which was unfortu-
hate, not just because
people would be
damp and chilly but
because of the effect more rain
would have on the Cenotaph's __-
newly cleared and vulnerable” :*..
patch of park. Much work has.
been going on for weeks and
weeks and it’s not quite finishe
yet. ; v

There was a small sea of mud
right where we stood that all but
swallowed 4.two-year old, gleeful-}

tops. But despite the discomfort, a
lot of peopte came to stand togeth-
er and to sing the moving old
songs, to shiver through the
bugler’s lament and pay their
respects to the memory of all those
young men and women who went
off to war and didn't come back,
The wreaths are still thick
around the base of the memorial
column us this is written. So far
just one has been vandalized.
Every day still there are a few peo-
ple who come to read the names.
And now there is a grand new
walkway, circling the whole: mon-

66 In the olden days, when we
_ Stopped everything it its track for two
“ winutes, that. was drama, that was
bringing it home strongly. 99

ument, laid in stone slabs, broad-

ened to make room for four sets of.

new benches, very handsome, each

. group offering a different angle on
*< the view. :

And all the underbrush and
mess that had accumulated on the .
" south side of the park has been

removed — we can’see now right”

through to the other half of the ...;

ly shoving his boots in it.up to the. *” boulevard, it looks properly

Bs
HES ast

ns
Yak

Mens

Sisn'cthat long. so that you can

Sunday, November 26, 1995 ~ North Shore News - 27

groomed, much improved,

The whole project has taken a
tot of hard work and a tot of time
and surely a fot of money, and the
people at City Hall are hoping that
you and | and many others will
muke contributions to the rest of
the improvements they are still
anticipating.

’ These further improvements
include a drinking fountain, for
which pipe has already been laid,
but it lacks $4,000 to finish.
Likewise. sturdy litter bins are
seen as required, and there are
handsome new light standards -

placed to highlight

the Cenotaph along
the new paths, Each
of those needs :

$2,500. They'll be a

handsome sight when

they can be lit.

Some new trees
have been planted,
each one requiring.
$5,000, and for the
Cenotaph itself, the
memorial pillar, there
are plans for installa-

~ tion of an eternal
flasne which will require a suitably
nandsome base. ;

It is hoped that this all will
enhance the planned Memorial
Marker, which is anticipated to be
the most costly of all the adorn-

City will give you the list, which ©!

|

ments, coming in at $7,500. The... |

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