MORRISBURG – The next Remembrance Day celebration in Iroquois on November 6 will be at a new location in front of a newly refurbished cenotaph.
The $115,000 community supported project recently reached its fundraising goal with a $25,000 donation from GFL which operates an Iroquois waste management site.
Committee, community and GFL representatives were at the official groundbreaking last Saturday morning.
Having reached $90,000 of the needed $115,000 to get this project started through a number of contributions from various community groups including the municipality, the federal government, the local Lions, Legion, Masons and more, it was the $25,000 from corporate sponsor GFL that got this project to its goal.
“All of this was raised in less than a year,” said Eric Duncan of the Iroquois Cenotaph Committee which is the same group responsible for the Matilda Cenotaph refurbishment project completed four years ago. “That’s something we can all be proud of and grateful for,” he added.
This project, relocates the cenotaph from the east end of Haldane Park at Elizabeth Drive to the front entrance area of the Iroquois Civic Centre uniting the cenotaph with the bronze plaques.
Complete with interlocking pathway and lighting, “It will be visible day and night to pedestrians and to vehicle traffic all hours of the day all days of the year,” said Duncan.
“I’m sure this project will look fantastic,” said South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds. “It will be in the right place for Iroquois.” He also thanked GFL for supporting this community project.
Brian Kronstal, Iroquois site manager for GFL, said that GFL who has owned the Iroquois facility for about a year, “seems like a really decent company that wants to be a part of our community.”
“It’s nice to see we’re working for a company that wants to put back into the community that we live in. For a large company they want to be part of the small communities as well,” he added.
The Iroquois Cenotaph Committee which consists of Eric Duncan, Archie Mellan, Jim Locke, Darlene Riddell and Cindy Ault-Peters, is planning for the rededication event for the Iroquois Cenotaph to take place October 30.