Tribute plaza takes shape in heart of Calgary

[five_alarm]

CALGARY, AB - It may have taken eight years, but a home has finally been found for a permanent tribute to the city's police officers and firefighters. And while it will be a special place for all Calgarians, the Calgary Police Officers' and Firefighters' Tribute Plaza to be built in front of City Hall will be especially important to the 20 families whose loved ones gave their lives protecting fellow citizens. "It is going to be really nice to have another place to go and reflect," said Christopher Vanderwiel, whose father, police officer Rob Vanderwiel, was killed while on duty when he was 11 years old.


Source: Calgary Herald (http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=c0a12b4c-4c64-401f-826a-e2deb8f8aeab&s=7503758.61107422&linkid=120&parent=news)

[five_alarm]

CALGARY, AB - Since 1885, 20 police officers and firefighers have given their lives in the line of duty. Monday, the nine firefighters and 11 police officers were honored in a special ceremony at City Hall as the Firefighters and Police Officers Tribute Plaza was unveiled.

The theme is "Walls of Memory, Tower of Light" and features stone walls and historical and education photos of life on the force and fire department. In the centre, a tower will light up the plaza every night.

Family members of those lost in the line of duty say they appreciate the tribute and will visit it often. The permanent memorial is located in front of City Hall.

Source: cfcn.theglobeandmail.com (http://cfcn.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/B/20060109/tribute?brand=generic&hub=&tf=CFCNPlus/generic/hubs/frontpage.html&cf=CFCNPlus/generic/hubs/frontpage.cfg&slug=tribute&date=20060109&archive=CFCNPlus&ad_page_name=&nav=home&subnav=fullstory)

[Scuba]

Good to see more and more cities offering permanant memorials for emergency workers who paid the ultimate price - Anyone from calgary have any shots of the new memorial?

[ABFF37]

Good to see more and more cities offering permanant memorials for emergency workers who paid the ultimate price - Anyone from calgary have any shots of the new memorial?

I'm gonna head down there to have a look either tomorrow or Thursday, so I'll be sure to take my camera along ;)

AB

[Scuba]

Figured one of you would be up for the challenge....



I'm gonna head down there to have a look either tomorrow or Thursday, so I'll be sure to take my camera along ;)

AB

[iamvff]

I'm gonna head down there to have a look either tomorrow or Thursday, so I'll be sure to take my camera along ;)

AB

make sure you get a picture of you beside the wall, so that we know what a beer guzzling golf ball hacker looks like!! :D

iamvff :)

[ABFF37]

Here's a couple more links to some local news stories...I'll get the pics for everyone in the next couple of days...

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2006/01/10/1386863-sun.html

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=e5818ed3-28fe-43fe-815c-850d032205ca&k=4438

This second link has a full list of all Clagary police officers and firefighters who have lost their lives in the service of the city. This monument means a lot to the families of the fallen, as well as to all of us in the halls.

AB

[ABFF37]

make sure you get a picture of you beside the wall, so that we know what a beer guzzling golf ball hacker looks like!! :D

iamvff :)

Oh man...I should have brought the camera to the range today...I could do no wrong, every shot was nice :p
And no wayward balls to distract from my form LOL...the beer guzzling part, however, is accurate...

AB:D

[iamvff]

Oh man...I should have brought the camera to the range today...I could do no wrong, every shot was nice :p
And no wayward balls to distract from my form LOL...the beer guzzling part, however, is accurate...

AB:D
OK,I'll lay off of the golf ball jokes! Just beer jokes from now on!!

iamvff :)

[ABFF37]

Couldn't get downtown today...but I'll most likely head there tomorrow. It was overcast all day too and snowing in the morning, so hopefully the weather will be more photogenic and I'll have a couple of pics by the afternoon tomorrow;)

AB

[ABFF37]

Ok, so I made it downtown today, and got some pictures of the tribute plaza. It is located right in front of city hall, and I have to say it is quite impressive.

I really enjoyed spending some time there. I only took pics of the fire side, but the other side of the monument is simmilar to the fire side shown here, only for the police.

The one side (which the picture is not very good because it was straight into the sun) is a wall full of historical pictures of the CFD. On the other side is the picture and story of every Calgary firefighter to lose their life in the line of duty. In the centre is an approximately 3 story coloured tower, it is lit up at night.

I was also very surprised to see my picture up on the wall, small as it may have been. I've attached it as the last picture here, its of the funeral procession of Kevin Olson the fallen Yellowknife firefighter. See if you can find me...I'm on the upper row, on the inside (the upper row closest to the procession) and am 9 full people from the left of the picture. The guy next to me (to my right, your left) is still saluting. Kinda small, but I was really quite moved to see my little portrait engraved on the monument. Note...I had to upload the pics in two posts because I suck at computers, and the files were too large...

If you're ever in Calgary, it's definately worth a visit!

[ABFF37]

Here are the remaining pictures...I didn't take one of every firefighter on the wall, I put a few random ones in here for everyone to see. The last one is the one where a sharp eye may be able to locate yours truly...

AB

[ABFF37]

Alright...I figured out how to format the last three pics that I had, so I figured that I may as well put them up. Lemme know what you think. I missed three fallen firefighters, and figured out of respect I would mention them, Firefighter David Allen, Firefighter Hugh McShane, and Firefighter Jerry Walters.

AB

[Scuba]

Beautiful monument.......if only we didn't need things like this :(

[firecadet911]

Excellent pics AB :) Perhaps a couple new contenders for photo of the week amongst the pictures you submitted? ;)

[ABFF37]

Thanks guys...when I get back to work in a few days I'm definately gonna tell all the guys that they should head down and see it, it's definately worth while. maybe I should submit some of the pics to the galleries...;)

AB

[vollyFFgurl]

Okay, how many times have i been down to town hall with my job over the past week, and I haven't even noticed it. Im so ashamed *hangs head very low* Truthfully I havent heard anything about it. I think I will take some time this weekend and head down there.