In order to prepare for Remembrance Day, a group of volunteers dedicated some time on Monday to clean-up the cenotaph area in Wallaceburg.
Greg Pilecki, the owner of CK Tree Care, spearheaded the clean-up along with Julie Vandamme from All Seasons Nursery in Wallaceburg.
“It’s to show the respect,” Pilecki said. “These people died for us. We are here to give our time, not only to serve the people that served for us but to serve our local community. We are going to have a bunch of people here on Wednesday to remember and we need to be getting together and giving back to those people who fought for us.”
Pilecki said his crew from CK Tree Care, some workers from All Seasons and dozens of students from Wallaceburg District Secondary School all came out to help.
“Julie had the bright idea to get some high schoolers in. That was great to see that we had some volunteers on board from the local high school.”
Pilecki said he was disappointed to see the cenotaph area not in the best condition.
“The property seems to be neglected by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and I feel that this is a place of honour and people come here to honour and respect those who have fallen and fought for us,” he said. “It should be the last thing that is neglected, especially this close to Remembrance Day.”
He added: “So we are here to clean up the yard, clean up the shrubs and trees to get it looking good for those who come and remember the fallen.”
The Remembrance Day services begin at Wallaceburg District Secondary School inside the auditorium at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday. Wreaths will be laid at the high school. People will then parade over to the cenotaph starting at 10:25 a.m. in plenty of time for 11 a.m.
Here are some photos from the Monday clean-up:
