BEAVER CREEK PRISON INMATES HONOUR VETERANS BY CLEANING UP GRAVE SITES AT MICKLE

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Remembrance Day is every day at Mickle Cemetery, where a section just inside the old front gate is known as the “Legion Cemetery.”

Graves are reserved for Canadian veterans who served and died.

For decades hundreds of plots have been an honoured place to rest in peace and where it was once part of annual Nov. 11 services and were a common site with pipes and drums, the Last Post, the reading of their names an poppies were laid at the head of each person’s name.

Slowly time has worn them down like it did the veterans lying in local state at one of the town’s slightly neglected cemeteries.

As with many interment sites what was once a dignified dedicated section of the cemetery with limestone walkways and markers has slowly deteriorated.

Respect!

Graves were edged and some lifted as part of a plan to fully restore them by Rembrance Day. PHOTOS Bob Gordon

Well, thanks to members of Beaver Creek’s prison Community Service Volunteer Group (CSVG), minimum security inmates hope to complete a cleanup and touch-up of the entire veterans section before Remembrance Day.

Thanks to the warden and his deputies they’ve put their support behind the program.

They recently began work on a large section of the graves.

It’s the second time they’ve done this, says Bob Gordon.

“Lifting stones and adding soil under the grave markers, they’ve also placed topsoil around the markers and really made a huge difference in the look of the area,” he said.

“These individuals never receive recognition for their charitable contributions to the community and in this case the very individuals who represented or town and community.”

So far Beaver Creek’s CSVG has been able to do about a quarter to a third of the veterans’ plots, which they lined up and measured with string and fill in.

They were only able to clear and lift a portion of the stones in the one day possibly 60 to 75 graves.

But they hope time permits more.

“The response from the veterans and the community has been overwhelming. I’m so proud to be a part of this undertaking,” said Gordon.

“I think these individuals deserve to be recognized for their contributions to the Legion and our community.”

Brian White visits the gaves of his parents Chum and Eileen this summer during a visit the legion section of Mickle Cemetery in Gravenhurst. PHOTO Mark Clairmont

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