Banners in Alberton and Bloomfield celebrate soldiers and their sacrifice

The banners on Main Street in Albertonand in the aisles of the Foodlandgrocery store in Bloomfield revealcommunitiesready to celebrate Remembrance Day.

Each banner features a soldierfrom either Alberton or Bloomfield in an effort commemorate their lives andsacrifices.

'Difficult decision'

A total of 46 photographs were used of different soldiers from either the First or Second World War.

About eight or nine of the young menon the banners did not return home, saidAlan Curtis, service officer of St. Anthony's Legion Branch 27 in Bloomfield.

"We had all this information and we thought because it was the 100th anniversary of the Armistice it would be good to create a display of some kind to bring it to people's attention," he said.

Over 250 soldiers volunteered for service from the region, said Curtis, making it a difficult task to decidewhich veterans would be featured.

"It was not an easy choice but we did the best we could to represent the people who still have family here," he said.

'Community support'

An importantfactor in the selection process was the quality of the photos and how well they had aged over time.

Community support was not difficult to come by and each banner was sponsored by a community member or local business.

"Nobody turned us down. Every business I went to agreed and some even offered to pay for them all," said Curtis.

For Curtis, what makes Remembrance Day special is the idea behind it.

"What makes it special I think, not the magic number 100, but the fact that we're still occasionally going to war and we've got to try and think of peace rather than war," Curtis said.

"That's what Remembrance Day celebrates. It celebrates the peace, not the war that produced the peace."

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