Posts with the Branch 170 tag

Barris Beat

None left behind

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Zephyr Zion Cemetery with five servicemen’s graves & one missing.

It took me two tries but I finally found him. A week ago, I fulfilled a promise made to my colleagues at the Royal Canadian Legion. In the lead up to Sunday’s Decoration Day, a day set aside (annually since 1890) to acknowledge veterans’ service, I volunteered to seek out the graves of several Canadian soldiers buried in cemeteries near Leaskdale and Zephyr.

“It’d be a big help if you could place flags at the gravesites,” Michele Viney said. “There’s one grave we’re aware of, a Pte. William L. Dempster, but we’ve never found his marker.”

“I’ll do my best,” I promised. (more…)

Barris Beat

Inside a walk for change

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Ken MacKay during his walk for homeless vets. Newmarket Today photo.

Last Saturday afternoon, friend and Royal Canadian Legion Veterans Service Officer Carol Pearcey got a call from a fellow Legionnaire from southwestern Ontario. She hadn’t met the caller, Ken MacKay, but she sensed he needed help. MacKay was 22 days into a solo walkathon to Parliament Hill for fellow veterans.

But (you’ll remember weather turned cold and rainy Saturday afternoon) and MacKay asked for a lift over the last few kilometres to the local Legion for a planned reception. Pearcey obliged and MacKay made it to the Franklin Street branch safe and dry.

“Carol was my guardian angel,” he said. “I’m very grateful.” (more…)

Barris Beat

A calling that rings true

Written by Ted Barris on . 2 Comments
Lew Gregor (far right) and Peter Viney (far left) of Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 170) executive welcome me and other new member Pam Forrest, Nov. 28, 2023.

I accomplished something this week I’ve wanted to for probably 50 years. I recently received an email from Lew Gregor, friend and membership chair of the Royal Canadian Legion. He was inviting me to the Branch 170 general meeting Tuesday night.

“I want to welcome you,” his note said, “as a new member of the Legion.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Pilgrimages of loss and remembrance

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Robin John prepares notes to remember her uncle’s service in the Great War. Photo Tom John.

We are virtually alone down this back road in northern France. A breeze rustling new spring leaves and chirping birds overhead provide the only sounds here. Nevertheless, because the lawn and flowerbeds look so immaculate, we know gardeners have tended here recently. At a headstone engraved with a maple leaf, our group gathers to listen to fellow traveller Robin John.

“John Alexander Edward Hughes enlisted in the Canadian Forces on May 22, 1917, five days after his 18th birthday,” she said of her uncle.

Which meant that Hughes was just legally eligible to enlist. (more…)

Barris Beat

Trivial Tuesday

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What to do while drinking? Trivia!

The room started off sounding pretty rowdy. Many of the regulars had arrived – including Team SMRT, the 74s, Upper Mondolia, the Whatevers and Jan’s Clan – and they’d all begun settling in for Tuesday night’s festivities. A voice on the microphone welcomed everybody to the weekly gathering. And the room went quiet, everybody listening to what the MC was about to say. She paused and read:

“Question No. 1,” she announced. “What fictional doctor lives in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh?” (more…)

Barris Beat

A tour to Remember

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Caitlin Wager and her father Rob shared a moment on Dieppe Beach during their recent Remembrance Tour.

A few days ago, Grade 11 student Caitlin Wager and several of her Uxbridge Secondary School classmates stopped on a bridge in the Netherlands. The overpass was situated amid newly blooming tulips at a popular springtime tourist spot, called Keukenhof. Not surprisingly, the teenagers decided to take some selfies. Suddenly, a Dutch woman approached the Uxbridge girls, and Caitlin thought the woman was going to ask her take a photo for her.

“No,” the Dutch woman said. “I want to take a picture of you.”

“Pardon?” Caitlin asked, not quite understanding.

“All of you,” the woman repeated. “I want a picture of all of you.”

And when the girls asked why, she said, “Because you’re Canadians.” (more…)