New memorial plaques installed at Veterans Memorial Park in Kimberley

Veterans and Military Ames members have been very busy this past week giving the Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Kimberley its annual spring cleanup. The park is looking great, and you may have noticed that the memorial plaques are back in place on the boulders that line the perimeter of the park.

A little less than a year ago, the memorial plaques, 13 in all, were stolen from the park, which devastated the veterans and the people who had donated the plaques. The persons responsible were never caught.

Last September the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) reached out to Cindy Postnikoff of Military Ames and offered to donate the cost of replacing the plaques.

"It was so sad to hear about this senseless act of vandalism," said CUPE BC Secretary-Treasurer Trevor Davies. "Objects can be replaced, but these memorials were more than objects, they represented the lives sacrificed by Canadians, and the families who lost loved ones as a result."

The donation amounted to over $10,000 and this week the plaques were installed.

"It was a bigger job than we thought at first," Postnikoff said. "All the grommets were in a different place and we had to re-drill all the holes. But the work is now done and Postnikoff invites the community to come down and enjoy the park.

"We will be holding an Act of Remembrance Ceremony on June 17," she said. "At that time, a representative from CUPE will be rededicating the park."

Postnikoff asks all those who enjoy the park to "Please remember this is sacred ground. We strongly discourage bicycles, skateboards, dogs and sidewalk chalk."