Details added to street signs honouring South Huron veterans

South Huron municipal staff Don Giberson, left, and Mike Rolph hold up an example of the new street signs to honour war veterans. Additional information on the veterans will be included on an interactive website map.

By John Miner

Street signs honouring South Huron’s local war veterans are being enhanced with the veteran’s name, rank and the conflict in which they served.

“It is something we are very proud of,” Mike Rolph, building and planning services director, told a recent municipal council meeting.

In the past, South Huron has named streets after local veterans with a poppy symbol added to the left of the name on the sign, but no additional information about the individual.

The new signs will have the poppy, name of the street in large lettering, and the details about the veteran in secondary text below.

In a report to council, Rolph noted several new streets within various subdivisions have been approved with names in honour of local veterans, including Armstrong Street in the Windermere subdivision, Dearing Drive and Sullivan Street in the Sol Haven subdivision, McCurdy Avenue in the Huron Park subdivision, Greene Street and Triebner Street in the Buckingham subdivision, and Lawrence Street off of Snyder Crescent.

There are other existing streets named after veterans in South Huron. The plan is to identify these streets and update the street signs.

Rolph said the approximate cost for a new street sign is $100 and is expected to be accommodated within the transportation department’s existing operating budget. The honorary signs installed in active subdivisions will be the responsibility of the developer.

Along with the new street signs honouring veterans, the planning department has been working with the Huron County GIS services team to create an interactive map denoting the location of all veteran memorial streets.

A poppy symbol on the map can be clicked on for details about the veteran, including a short biography, photos, and newspaper clippings. The material can be updated on an ongoing basis as additional information is collected.

Mayor George Finch thanked municipal staff for the initiative.

“This is an excellent tribute to our veterans.”

Coun. Aaron Neeb said it is important to commemorate veterans and what they stood for and fought for.

“We’re coming up to a municipal election and it is easy to forget how lucky we are to be able to take part in elections. There are places in the world where they don’t have that and these veterans fought for that.”