MELFORT 鈥� Melfort council unanimously passed a motion designating a stretch of Saskatchewan Drive as Veteran鈥檚 Way following a push by Melfort Communities in Bloom.
Veteran鈥檚 Way will begin at the south side of Melfort on Highway 6, following through Saskatchewan Drive to the entrance of Highway 41.
As a designation rather than a renaming, the designation will affect street signage, but it will also officially remain Saskatchewan Drive.
Glenn George, Melfort鈥檚 mayor, said that this difference means businesses along the route won鈥檛 have to change their addresses 鈥� something which would have caused the city to choose a different street.
鈥淲e would put it on Highway 41A or something like that where there鈥檚 no businesses. We wanted this right downtown,鈥� George said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just an absolutely great thing. I鈥檓 kind of biased towards Communities in Bloom since my wife is one of the two driving forces behind there and I think it鈥檚 a fabulous idea.鈥�
Creating and installing the signage along the route is estimated to cost the city about $5,000.
In an April interview, Melfort Communities in Bloom鈥檚 Peggy George told the East Central Recorder that this was another way to remember veterans.
聽鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of talk about remembering and let鈥檚 not forget, and it鈥檚 all done in a couple days in November and then we move on and we forget about it again.鈥�
Communities in Bloom is also partnering with the Melfort Legion to install streetlight banners with photos of specific veterans who have a connection to the city. The banners are planned to be installed in October and remain up until winter holidays.
According to the city, there are 684 registered veterans from Melfort.
