Flag-raising kicks off week of Remembrance

By Lethbridge Herald on November 3, 2023.

Jeff Alden, chairman of the poppy committee of the General Stewart Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, speaks during the poppy flag raising ceremony Friday outside City Hall. Herald photo by Al Beeber

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Veteran’s Week kicked off in Lethbridge Friday with a flag-raising at City Hall.

On a cool November morning, members of the Legion stood at the flagpoles and watched as the poppy flag was raised to fly in the breeze.

Jeff Alden, chair of the poppy committee of the General Stewart branch of the Royal Canadian Legion said the poppy flag is traditionally raised to commence the week of remembrance ceremonies for the country’s veterans.

Mayor Blaine Hyggen spoke to the gathering after the flag was raised.

“As we gather here today to show our appreciation for the sacrifices made for our freedom, there are unfortunate reminders of war and its consequences all around the world today,” said Hyggen.

He asked people to make a pledge to never forget those who served and sacrificed for Canada.

“The freedoms we enjoy today are based on the sacrifices these individuals made. The City of Lethbridge is proud to fly the banners of the local veterans who made the ultimate sacrifices,” he said. 

“I’m proud to say that 4th Avenue will be marked as Veterans Avenue. Just like wearing a poppy these are gestures of respect that is greatly appreciated by many. I encourage you to all to please thank a veteran, shake the hand of current military personnel and wear your poppy in appreciation of those who sacrificed. We should never forget,” added the mayor.

Inside the City Hall foyer, Trish Purkis discussed two tributes that stood in honour of veterans who were members of Southminister United Church and one became part of it  when the United Church was created.

A banner from Knox Presbyterian church has hung in the sanctuary of Southminster since the building was built in 1913, said Purkis.

She figured ‘why don’t we have anything from the Wesley Methodist men so this is the result of that and you can see it’s all the men who went war in the World War One and the ones with crosses were killed in action and the ones that don’t have the crosses are the ones that returned,” said Purkis.

She said the project was undertaken in the past year. An honour roll was created for church men and women who were in the Second World War, all of whom came back home, added Purkis.

“We have a register for Wesley Methodist in 1917 – they had the names here and they say on active service and that’s how all of this came about,” she said.

“We do have the plaque in the back of the sanctuary for the men who served from the Knox Presbyterian Church and I always wondered why was there wasn’t there one for the Wesley Methodist because Southminster was made up of the two denominations. So that’s one of the reasons why we started doing this and I think it’s just because a continuation on with the banners that we see on 4th Avenue here so I started doing research and there is a 1917 register in the Southminster archives that list all these names here,” she said pointing to the Wesley plaque.

The United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 when the Congregational, Methodist and most Presbyterian churches in the country came together.

Southminster’s beginnings started when Reverend Charles McKillop served as the first minister of Knox Presbyterian Church back in 1886 in the earliest days of the city.

In 1888, Wesley Methodist was established and in 1913 it began work on an 1,100 seat sanctuary. At the time of the church unification, Knox and Wesley congregations both had their own churches just blocks apart.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Knox’s congregation joined the Wesley congregation which since 1935 has been known as Southminster.