Canadian Firefighters Memorial, August 11, 2013

This day turned out to be beautiful for taking pictures. Overall the landscaping vegetation has done very well this year. The site has been worked on to make it presentable for the memorial ceremony coming in September. There has been extensive weeding and overall cleanup. The landscape areas have a new layer of mulch. The memorial itself now has a dedication plaque and about twenty names have been added to the wall.

I thought that these plants had not survived the winter but they have perked up and grown green leaves. The mulch is new since I last took pictures of the site.

The plants on the south side of the hill are coming along but they have not done as well as those on the rest of the site. One reason for that may be that this area is in shade for much of the day.

You can tell the name that has been recently added as it is less weathered than the others.

CANADIAN FIREFIGHTERS MEMORIAL
WE WERE THERE

This monument is dedicated to all Canadian firefighters who serve their communities, and honours by name those who have died in the line of duty.

This memorial was made possible with the support of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Government of Canada.

Unveiled on September 9, 2012 by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada

Artist: Douglas Coupland
Landscape Architect: PLANT Architecture Inc.

Canadian Firefighters Memorial, July 28, 2013

When I arrived at the memorial the rain intensified. After waiting that out I went out to get pictures and as I finished up the rain came back again. It looks that most of the plants on the site are thriving. The ones I thought were dead have produced some green foliage. In addition to that the wild flowers (weeds) have very much invaded. There is no dedication plaque yet and there is no evidence of new names being added to the wall.

Canadian Firefighters Memorial, July 15, 2013

I went to the memorial site today and took pictures which you can see below. The plants that survived the winter are doing extremely well. There are weeds in evidence but there is also evidence that there are people doing maintenance and weeding the site.

There are blueberry bushes on the hill where the maple trees are located. The bushes have produced berries and lo and behold there was someone up there with a little bag harvesting them. When I started taking pictures he left. When I was leaving I saw him coming back.

The fence at this location shows signs of being stood on and bent out of shape. On one occasion earlier when I went to photograph the site I saw two young people sitting on the top of the wall and drinking beer. When I started taking pictures they took off. Contrary to anyone's opinion sitting on this wall and drinking alcoholic beverages is totally not cool. I didn't spend twelve years working on this so stupid people could have a place to go to drink beer.

You can see some blueberries on this bush. By now there will be fewer on it, if any.

Look between the firefighter's left leg and his axe and you will see the blueberry harvester.

I don't know what has happened here. The earth has probably settled and exposed part of the back wall. I couldn't get up high enough to be sure but I think there's a marmot hole there. If that's the case the animal probably left. There isn't enough underground space there for a decent home for a marmot.

There's an empty vodka or rum flask lying on the stone here. I hope that wasn't put there by one of the people who attended Bluesfest. That would really put that event in a bad light.