The Darlingford Memorial Park Committee hosted the annual Darlingford Memorial Service Sunday morning at the community's Memorial Park. The annual service is dedicated to, and honours local residents who gave their lives in service to their country.

This was the 95th consecutive service that has taken place at the war memorial, dating back to July 5th, 1921 when the park officially opened. It includes participation from local school children who place flowers on two crosses in honour of those who never made it home from the wars.

Harvey Kinsmen was the main speaker at the service. He told an emotional story about how his uncle, after whom he is named, went to war and never came back. Then, later in Harvey's life he went to his uncle's grave in Normandy. Harvey took some of the soil from his uncle's parents' graves and put it on his uncle's grave, then took some of the soil from his uncle's grave and placed it on his uncle's parents' graves.

Reporter Thomas Guenther spoke with Harvey after the service, and asked him what it meant to him to participate.

 

 

After the Service Thomas also spoke with firearms enthusiast Jason Lavelley who is in the process of restoring everything in the Darlingford Memorial Park building.

 

 

The Darlingford Memorial is the only free-standing memorial building of it's kind in Manitoba that honours the war dead. Two black marble plaques inside the memorial list the names of the men who served and died in World War I and II.

 

A number of Canadian Forces servicemen and women attended the service to remember the fallen.