Martensville resident Jan Diehl began creating a Remembrance Day display in her yard eight years ago, which initially began with one piece, and has since grown in size each year.
Every item in the display has been hand-made, as Diehl said she is unable to find Remembrance Day items to purchase. This year, the display includes poppies, flags, as well as a tribute to those who lost their lives in Afghanistan.
“This year, with what happened in Afghanistan, I knew I wanted to make a tribute to all our fallen soldiers. I started at the end of August and it proved to be a much bigger undertaking than I had anticipated only getting 56 of the 158 soldier tributes done,” Diehl said.
Initially, Diehl was worried that it would be disrespectful to the families if not all of the tributes were included; however, she decided to put the completed ones up for this year, with plans to finish the rest for next year.
“It was so hard having to take these huge stories and only being able to give such a tiny amount of detail for each of them,” Diehl added.
Diehl sets up a display for each holiday; however, for her, Remembrance Day is the most important to her. “Last Saturday, a veteran came here to see it and it was so heartbreaking to hear his stories. He thanked me for doing this and said that he is scared that soon they will all be forgotten. I hope that by putting my display up, it opens up the conversation with families to talk to their kids about the importance of Remembrance Day.”
The display can be found on the corner of Rockhill Lane and 9th Avenue South in Martensville.
