If you’ve been walking or riding around downtown Sackville lately, you may have noticed a series of banners on light poles depicting area veterans. The banners go up every year for a couple months in advance of Remembrance Day.
While town staff are responsible for putting up and taking down the commemorative banners, the driving force behind them is a local volunteer, Garth Zwicker.
For several years now, Zwicker has been collecting stories and images from the families of Sackville area veterans, and then with help from local graphic designer Graham Mesheau, transforming them into banners which adorn Sackville streets each fall.
It’s a labour of love for Zwicker, who says his reward is reading the stories sent in by families requesting a banner to commemorate a loved one. Zwicker says the project grew to be much bigger than he expected back when he started it 7 years ago.
Zwicker’s father spent time in a veteran’s home in Saint John where the Legion was involved. “So one year we find out that they’re doing these banners,” recalls Zwicker. He went down for the unveiling, and thought, “this is way too cool. Why can’t we have something like that?”
At first he thought Sackville might end up with about 10 banners. But this past September, Zwicker unveiled 16 new banners to add to the collection, and may have finally maxed out the project, at 126 banners.
“Don’t tell the town,” says Zwicker, jokingly. “It was supposed to be 125, so we snuck one in there.”
Zwicker says that the combined stories of Sackville’s veterans give a glimpse into the history of the town itself. The majority of the veterans featured are from the second world war.
“They went over in 1939 or 1940, and came home in 1945, and resumed their life. They just went back to being a foundry worker, or a veterinarian, or whatever they were,” says Zwicker.
Zwicker recalls one of his first banners, about a young man named William Bellamy. “He signed up, went over and he wasn’t there very long before he was taken POW. While in the POW camp, he was injured, and he died from those injuries. He’s buried in a place called Holten Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands.” Zwicker and his wife were able to visit the site and place a flag in honour of Bellamy.
Zwicker’s father was a Korean War veteran, and didn’t speak to his children about his experience until later in his life. “As a kid, you don’t really have the courage to ask them or you ask them, and they brush it off. And you don’t do it anymore.” But later in his life, Zwicker learned more about what his father played a role in. “It’s nice to pass on,” says Zwicker. “We need to remember.”
Zwicker says the banners belong to families who have commissioned them, and will be returned to the families once they’re retired, though it’s not clear when that will be, as they have lasted far longer than he originally hoped. And so far, he says, they’ve been spared from vandalism.
Zwicker credits veterans families with bringing their stories to the streets of Sackville. “They’re the ones that have to put the story together and the information together. They’ve got to find the pictures,” he says. They also cover the costs of producing the banners on vinyl, while Zwicker coordinates the project on a volunteer basis. “I call the stories almost my reward. I get to read them and I get to see all the cool pictures,” he says.
“At some point in time, it probably wouldn’t hurt to pass on the torch and have some new blood,” says Zwicker when asked about the future of the project. It’s always possible the town will give him the okay on another round of new banners, but he’s open to other possibilities. “Maybe 125 banners for veterans is suitable at this time,” says Zwicker. “And maybe there could be another banner project of famous people in Sackville or something like that. That would certainly be interesting.”
The Sackville Legion has announced it will not be having its usual Remembrance Day ceremony this year due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. Instead, the Legion will host a ceremony similar to last year, and is asking that anyone in the general public wishing to leave a wreath, cross, or poppy are asked to do so after that ceremony.
On Thursday, the Colour Party will march from the Legion to the Cenotaph at 10:50AM. All wreathes and crosses will be placed at the Cenotaph by Legion Executive members ahead of time. There will be a drummer and trumpeter present. The Legion says patrons are welcome to visit the Legion following the service. Proof of vaccination and government ID are required to enter the Legion.
