Airdrie will dedicate its Veterans Memorial on Sept. 20, the City of Airdrie’s website says. The ceremony will run from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Veterans Boulevard Nautical flag pole near 8th Street.
“We honour their courage and dedication, celebrate their service, remember their sacrifices and ensure their legacy lives on,” the city’s listing says. “All community members are welcome to attend this meaningful tribute to our local heroes.”
The boulevard memorial, located from Main Street to 8th Street, includes 30 railing panels, 22 light pole banners, two silhouettes, two benches and a nautical flag pole. The city says the intricate designs were inspired by the stories of local service men, tying into a representation of veterans from air, land and sea.
And this comes as earlier this summer, the city completed another component of the Veterans Memorial Project — two veteran crosswalks approved by the council as an enhancement to the initiative. According to a June 3 council agenda report, the crosswalks align with the project’s goal to honour and recognize Airdrie’s veterans in a highly visible way.
One crosswalk is on 1st Avenue NE in front of the Airdrie Legion Branch building. The other is beside Field of Valour Park, which contains the Cenotaph and Gapyeong War Memorial.
“This memorial is an expression of our community’s gratitude to those who have served,” Mayor Peter Brown said in a July 21 release. “It stands as a powerful reminder of those who have given their lives and those who have served with unwavering courage, sacrifice and dedication to secure our freedom and peace. We are proud to honour their legacy in a meaningful way.”
The City of Airdrie’s website profiles four veterans whose stories inspired the memorial:
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Larry Skaalrud — Served 33 years in the Canadian Navy, deploying during the Cuban Missile Crisis at 19 and to Vietnam in 1973, with postings on seven destroyers and several submarines. He sometimes spent 29 days submerged and was away from home an average of 274 days a year, later volunteering with Ducks Unlimited, Citizens on Patrol and Community Links.
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Keith Shaw — Served 28 years in the Canadian Army as a combat engineer, qualifying as a paratrooper, combat diver and patrol pathfinder. His deployments included Cyprus, Germany, Norway, Great Britain and the United States, and he instructed with the 10th and 11th U.S. Army Special Forces before a second career as a correctional officer.
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Domenico DiGivannantonio — Served 35 years in the Signals Regiment, repairing communications systems, radar and other electronics in Canada and abroad, including Italy, Germany, Alaska, South America, Iraq and Afghanistan. After retiring in 2018, he began work at Queen’s Park Cemetery in Calgary.
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George Pambrun — An Indigenous veteran from Alberta whose experiences include ceremonies to bring home the spirits of fallen comrades after the war. His story inspired the memorial’s Returning Home installation.
‘Returning Home’
The memorial features Returning Home, a work by artist Andrew Holloway inspired by Pambrun’s stories. Holloway says the tipi with smoke rising from the top represents home — a beacon for spirits to return to family. Inside, male and female dancers celebrate the spirits’ arrival alongside a medicine man and a drummer. Two children represent the future of Indigenous people, while an eagle, representing the creator, guides the spirits.
Holloway says Pambrun’s stories informed him of “the Indigenous side of war Veterans, as well as the true sacrifices that these Veterans are making,” and that it is important the spirits “find their way home, so they and their loved ones can finally be at peace and rest.”
The city says the $55,000 project received provincial funding through the Community Initiatives Grant Program and was developed in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Legion #288 Airdrie and the Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans in Canada (ANAVETS).
The city says the Veterans Memorial Project is intended as a year-round space for remembrance and reflection.
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