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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 18 ,2 02 1 | 10 We're reintroducing our annual Seniors Services membership for 2022 seniors programming. Seniors Services Membership Fees (tax incl) $43 for age 50-79 $22 for age 80-89 Free for age 90+ Purchase online, by phone or in-person at seniors centres. Winter program registration opens at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, December 1. Visit oakville.ca or call 905-815-2000 for details. A one-time connection fee may apply on new activations or hardware upgrades.*Speeds reduced beyond Fast LTE data amounts. For Digital Discount program details and how to redeem your $5 monthly discount, visit freedommobile.ca/digitaldiscount. All Freedom Mobile services are subject to our Terms of Service, Internet Traffic Management Policy, Fair Usage Policy, and Privacy Policy located at freedommobile.ca. The Freedom Mobile name and logos and other words, titles, phrases, marks, logos, icons, graphics are trademarks of, or used under license by, Freedom Mobile Inc. All rights reserved. Oakville Smart Centre 261 Oak Walk Drive Oakville 289.291.3261 Walkers Line 3505 Upper Middle Road Burlington 289.427.5260 Appleby Village 5111 New Street Burlington 905.635.0584 FREE YOURSELF FROM OVERPRICED DATA . WITH DIGITAL DISCOUNT freedommobile.ca FREE YOURSELF FROM OVERPRICED DATA. WITH DIGITAL DISCOUNT A larger than expected crowd gathered for the Re- membrance Day ceremony at George Square in Oak- ville despite the need for so- cial distancing and avail- ability of livestreaming. Residents and dignitaries alike came together to ho- nour those who have fallen in service to Canada. Greg Munz of the Oak- ville Historical Society, as well as some of the volun- teers who helped him, made their mark on the ceremony as well. At each of the four corners of the square are triangular shaped displays with banners on them. Each banner tells the stories of Oakville at war. Some historical stories, others personal. While Munz is proud of this ac- complishment, the display almost didn't happen. "I had some surgery [last year] that was not elective," said Munz. "I ended up with a very nasty infection two months after the surgery and spent eight days in the hospital with hallucinations and loss of consciousness." His original plan was to put up the banners for the 2020 Remembrance Day season. It would have coin- cided with the 75th anniver- sary of the end of the Sec- ond World War. But his ill- ness, plus the spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic, dashed his hopes. "It was impossible to get it done." Munz, who served in Cy- prus as a United Nations peacekeeper, says the idea for these banners originally started out with the idea to honour First World War veterans in 2014. "So then it evolved to peacekeeping because there was a gentleman who was kind of an expert on peacekeeping. He gathered a bunch of us together and we put an exhibit in the Oakville Museum," he said. "But then we planned to do something for the Sec- ond World War. We wanted to do that for the 75th anni- versary." Each of the banners tells stories spanning in time from the First World War to peacekeeping missions to Afghanistan. Each one doesn't just provide a win- dow into the wars them- selves, but also the on-the- ground reality of life in Oakville during that time. Munz drew particular attention to a photo of kids selling fudge to support the Red Cross sometime in 1941. They were the children, their friend, of a local store owner named William Grammel. "Although Oakville's population was way small- er than it is now, we found amazing evidence of Oak- ville residents of all ages contributing to the war ef- fort," said Emily Ing, who helped Munz get the ban- ners made. Another one of Munz's helpers, Madison Carmi- chael, recounts the story of Joy Smith "who had to pour a bottle of rum she'd caught her recruits with down the toilet." REMEMBRANCE BANNERS ALMOST DIDN'T FLY Greg Munz gives a tour of the banner he helped to get made. Mansoor Tanweer/Metroland MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com NEWS