As time moves on and memories fade, Remembrance Day has become even more important to those who served in Canada’s military.
Now, a new mural painted on the brick wall exterior of the Victoria Legion at Jutland and Gorge roads is preserving those memories for the future.
The bright pink, purple and blue landscape is punctuated with red, a colour forever associated with Nov. 11, as poppies adorn the field below.
“It’s like a new breath of light that’s been brought in. It’s only been here for a couple of weeks. but the response has been amazing,” said Lorrie Weston, manager of Trafalgar Pro Patria Legion.
Taggers constantly graffitied the wall, but the Legion and the Burnside-Gorge Graffiti Fighters decided it was time for a change and commissioned Comox-based artist Kelly Everil for help.
But after the first day of painting, taggers struck again.
“The next morning we showed up, and we had been tagged all along here. Again. It was very heartbreaking. but the artist persevered, and painted over it. Our mountains grew a little taller,” said Rachelle Westman, coordinator for Burnside Gorge Graffiti Fighters.
Now the wall is graffiti-resistant and reaction to the mural is overwhelming.
“People are thrilled with it. It benefits everybody, not just our veterans. It benefits the community as well,” said Weston.
Completed just days before Remembrance Day, it’s a new look for an enduring tradition.
WATCH: ‘There were sacrifices made’: Field of Crosses, poppy displays for Remembrance Day
Mary Griffin
