Members of the community, town council, and the Collier family gathered around Bradford’s Branch 521 of the Royal Canadian Legion recently for the unveiling of the legion’s new mural.
The mural features Canadian military history with photos of veterans that were significant to the Bradford branch as members and supporters and represent all aspects of the Canadian Armed Forces.
“The legion executive have been talking about a mural for the legion wall for a number of years but it wasn’t until we met graphic artist Frank Gibb that we realized the path we needed to follow to turn our vision into a reality,” said Tammy Paglia, Bradford Legion president. “The mural project has been a beautiful and enlightening experience.”
Included are Legion founder and Air Force veteran Orville Hand, Royal Navy veteran and Legion member Les Buxton, Army veteran and Legion member Bert Hogg, Canadian Highlander and Legion supporter Frank Moore, peacekeeper and Legion member Michael Comeau, and hometown hero Brian Collier, who lost his life in the Afghanistan war.
“The mural is a stark reminder of just how lucky we are to live in such a great country,” said Mayor-elect James Leduc. “The people that sacrificed their lives for our right to freedom of speech, freedom to protest, the freedom to succeed and our democratic right to vote. The mural has local heroes on the wall, something that we can go and visit and feel connected to.
“It was extremely heartwarming to see the people from BWG that played a significant role in the last few conflicts represented on the mural. To be able to recognize so many of them is a touching reminder of how lucky I am to live here in Bradford West Gwillimbury. Thank you to all that have served our country.”
Originally the plan was to spread the mural out over two walls and capture the First and Second World Wars, the war in Afghanistan, and the peacekeeping missions but wanting it done for Remembrance Day, the project is now being completed in two phases. Phase one was revealed Friday with the second phase planned for a later date.
“Phase two will depict action photos of Canadian forces operations,” said Paglia. “Touching on the women of the armed forces, black, Indigenous, and persons of colour, Afghanistan, peacekeeping missions, and much more.”
