Photo - Left to Right:  Heather Stilwell (School Trustee); Councillor Dianne Watts; Councillor Marvin Hunt;
Councillor Judy Higginbotham; MP Russ Hiebert; Councillor Bob Bose

The Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 6 Cloverdale), in partnership with the City of Surrey, held an official ceremony on Saturday (November 20) to memorialize and mark graves in unmarked gravesites within the Surrey Centre Cemetery. As part of the ceremony, the Legion organized a proper Military service to recognize deceased war veterans and those who served valiantly and gave their lives for their country.

The Cloverdale Branch, in cooperation with the Last Post Fund and the City of Surrey, has undertaken a grave marker project to provide permanent granite headstones for war veteran graves that have been unmarked for several years. The project focus currently is within the City-owned Surrey Centre Cemetery, which has 30 unmarked gravesites identified. The weekend ceremony represented the completion of the first phase of the project to install ten new headstones.   The City of Surrey, working alongside the Legion and the Last Post Fund, has plans to continue the project to enable completion of all 30 markers through 2005 and beyond.

"Memorial sites and celebrations are important to help keep alive the memory of the achievements and sacrifices of Canadian citizens who have served to defend our nation's freedoms and civil rights," said Mayor Doug McCallum on behalf of Council.   "In addition to this important gravesite marker initiative, the City recently implemented a memorial garden funded by the Cloverdale Branch Legion and found a new home for an historical artillery piece relocated from the Surrey Museum.  I salute the Cloverdale Legion for initiating and spearheading these important memorial projects."

The ceremony commenced with the 746 Air Cadet Squadron March of the Colours and the Honour Guard.   Judy Cook sang the national anthem and Cloverdale Branch President Earle Fraser officiated at the ceremony.  The Branch Chaplain performed a graveside dedication and prayer in the memory of the deceased veterans and local dignitaries participated in the services by placing a lit candle on each of the ten headstones being memorialized.  Two Canadian flags framed each newly placed marker and a Cadet stood beside each grave during the ceremony.  Using a bugle recovered from a fallen soldier in WWI Europe, the bugler provided a memorable rendition of The Last Post and Reveille that could be heard across the valley.   The ceremony concluded with Colour and Honour Guard retiring.

Surrey Centre Cemetery is one of three cemeteries operated by the City of Surrey and is located at 16671 Old McLellan Road in Surrey.  The cemetery was established early in the history of Surrey by the Methodist Church and has been in use for over 110 years.  For further information about Surrey cemeteries or the gravesite marker project visit the cemetery website at www.cemeteries.surrey.ca

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