Moose Jaw’s mayor Clive Tolley was presented with the first poppy distributed in the city by Branch #59 of the Royal Canadian Legion on Oct. 26. The tradition of presenting the mayor and other dignitaries with the first poppy symbolizes the official start of the Legion’s yearly poppy campaign.
For Moose Jaw’s mayor, Remembrance Day holds personal significance.
“I think Remembrance Day is special to everybody, but in their own particular way depending on their family, where their family comes from, and how many service members have been in the family,” said Mayor Tolley.
“In society, we’re thankful for the veterans who gave their lives so that we could have freedom, but it gets a lot closer to home when you look at your grandparents that fought in the First World War, or your parents who fought in the Second World War.”
His grandfather and father fought accordingly, and to honour their memory, Mayor Tolley keeps a shadow box with their pictures, medals, and other memorabilia in his office.
“My father was in the RAF (Royal Air Force) before the war, so when the war started, he was a regular (serviceman). He was transferred here (to Canada) to assist with training,” said Mayor Tolley.
“They took the Canadian boys and sent them for training to go on the front lines, and they sent the regulars to support the whole system,” he explained.
His father’s name was George Tolley.
“When (my father) was serving, King George was (on the throne) and there were five Georges in his unit. So, they gave everybody different names. They called him ‘Tony.’ His name was actually George, but (his fellow soldiers) called him Tony,” Mayor Tolley recalled.
“When my older brother was born, he was actually named Tony, so our whole lives we had to answer the phone by asking, ‘is it Tony Senior or Tony Junior (speaking)?’”
Mayor Tolley’s older brother and eldest son of his father George (Tony) Tolley, Anthony (Tony) Tolley, spent countless hours assembling the shadow boxes that now hang in his office. The memorial boxes contain a number of ways to remember their family members who served.
“It really gets personal when you know that you have lost an uncle, grandpa, or somebody (in the family)” he said.
“I’m reminded of this daily, rather than once a year,” Mayor Tolley said with solemn remembrance.
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