The story of the Saanich War Memorial in the Nov. 6 edition of the Saanich News was most interesting and no doubt “news” to many citizens.
I have laid a wreath for many years at the memorial, pre-pandemic, on behalf of the Naval Association. Even after I became mobility impaired I still performed that duty but required assistance as rolling my “walker” on the lawn from the staging area to the monument was quite difficult.
Over the years I have concluded that the memorial is in the wrong setting because it is virtually invisible to the public except when gathered for Remembrance Day. It should be in a prominent location to be seen at all times. A few years ago I suggested to council that it should be moved to the south end of Cedar Hill Park alongside Finlayson Avenue where the proximity of Cedar Hill Rec Centre is available to service attendees, including parking, on Remembrance Day.
Regrettably, council was intent on installing a sidewalk at the current location from the staging area to the monument so that wreath layers no longer have to walk on the lawn. While this solves one problem it still keeps the monument virtually invisible to the public. I still feel strongly that the monument deserves to be in an area of high visibility and I hope other citizens of Saanich feel the same way and will urge council to address this issue for change.
Stanley Brygadyr
Saanich
