Port Dalhousie Citizen Soldier Banner Project
In the small Ontario town of Port Dalhousie, ON is an impressive Cenotaph dedicated to the citizen's from the town, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the Great wars and other conflicts and peacekeeping since. Twenty men are listed who fought in WWI, but never returned. In 2020, a class from St. Ann School produced artwork, to honour each of those twenty individuals.
The artwork is so beautiful, yet stark, that it was suggested that they would be terrific banners that could be hung annually near the Cenotaph and throughout Port Dalhousie, leading up to Remembrance Day and for a short period following.
An initial suggestion from "Port Girl" Dorene Inglis, a relative of William Inglis, one of the 20, was carried forward by Port-born childhood friends Herb Davies and Pat Brand, who then sparked the committee to make this initiative a reality. With all this momentum, we now need financial assistance and the community's help to actually make it happen.
Our goal is to raise $10,000 to enable and cover the following for the Port Dalhousie Citizen Soldier Banner Project:
- Initial production of the 20 banners from the artwork provided by the students of St. Ann (names of fallen are shown below in photos);
- Associated cost to install and remove the banners annually;
- Costs associated with any additional hardware for the banners not already provided by the City of St. Catharines;
- Creation of QR coded signage which will be mounted on the pole below each banner, which will provide info on the featured individual; and
- a small portion for administration including banking, marketing and storage of banners.
It would be great if you can help us make this come true.
To see more of the artwork, you can check it out at the bottom of the page at this link:
http://citizensoldiersofportdalhousie.weebly.com/the-cenotaph.html
Individual Donations: Any donation of any size is hugely appreciated as this will push us towards meeting our goal and banner production.
Banner Sponsorship: The cost to 'sponsor' an individual banner is set at $400, which can be from individuals, families or corporate entities. This is a one time fee and we anticipate the banners to last for at least 8-10 years until requiring a replacement. If you wish to sponsor an individual banner (ie. for a specific name of the 20), please drop me a line via the contact link or at (905-658-5440 - text) and we will make that so.
Awareness (free): Please spread the word and enjoy the banners, the stories they bear and reflect at the cenotaph anytime.
For all donations, we will proudly display the names of those donating (if you wish), on our social media, website and on the QR coded signage which will be mounted below each banner. For corporate entities, this would include website / contact link within the QR code.
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide any form of official charitable tax receipt, as we are not organized as a charity, but each donation does include a GoFundMe receipt, that you can use as you see fit for your records and finances.
My name is Paul Molnar and I am proud to be volunteering, to assist the founders of this initiative in making this a reality. I am a Port citizen, combat veteran and our hope is this will be proudly administered by the Port Dalhousie Legion in the near future. All proceeds will be held in an RBC Martindale account and overseen by committee for the spending and administering of accumulated funds.
Once again, thank you for your consideration and assistance for this proud remembrance of our citizen soldiers and the Port Dalhousie Cenotaph. We much appreciate all of your contributions and partnership and specifically would like to thank the City of St. Catharines, the Port Dalhousie BWC, St Ann School, Dorene Inglis, Herb Davies, Pat Brand, Dave Robinson (graphics design), Jeff Mackie and all the others and social media teams that have collaborated and also helped share this initiative widely.
Lest We Forget!!
Port Dalhousie Citizen Soldier Banner Project
