West Smoky Legion No. 244 hosts Bezanson School Grade 6 Students
Monday, October 23, 2023 saw the Grade 6 class from Bezanson School visit the Legion for a morning of Remembrance.
The hut was decorated in the POPPY theme for their arrival. Renee Charbonneau, Executive Director from the Veterans Memorial Gardens & Interpretive Centre in Grande Prairie had graciously agreed to provide one of their educational kits and go through the material with the students. Renee easily captivated her audience when she asked them if they would like to dress up as a soldier for the day. She had brought with her a box of hats that would have been worn by different factions of the Military along with t-shirts that WWII soldiers wore under their uniforms. As well, another favorite item was face painting with the camouflage colours that Renee had brought with her. Her kits included many informative items, items that most of the students had not seen before; such as WWII medals, army jacket, attestation papers, discharge papers, photos of great interest and the students even got to make “dog tags”.
Once Renee completed her presentation, President Bruce Fenton addressed the students on the importance of honouring our Veterans, not just on Remembrance Day but all year long.
What a great morning that concluded way too quickly with just enough time for a “photo op” and hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles along with several varieties of cookies. Veterans Memorial Gardens also provided “goodie bags” for the students and West Smoky Legion attached a Poppy to each bag. Following Renee’s presentation, President Bruce Fenton addressed the students about the piemen and servicewomen Left to right - Renee Charbonneau, Executive Director of Veterans Memorial Gardens & Interpretative Centre, Wanda Zenner, Bruce Fenton, West Smoky Legion No 244 President, Donna McNally. Written by Wanda Zenner Photos by Connie Stewart
Renee Charbonneau
