Soldier Lived Here Leaside
A Soldier Lived Here: Leaside Remembrance Day Sign and Walk Campaign
A Soldier Lived Here, Leaside (Toronto) Remembrance Day Sign and Walk Campaign: 2023 Heritage Toronto Public History Award nominee.
Project Organization: Leaside Heritage Preservation Society
Date of Release: November 11, 2022
In early November 2022, the Leaside Heritage Preservation Society (LHPS) launched a project to commemorate the sacrifice of the 18 young Leasiders who had been killed serving Canada during World War II.
The project had two parts:
About a week before Remembrance Day, signs bearing the simple message – “A Soldier Lived Here” – were placed at the residences where the young men had once lived. On November 11 2022, the LHPS held a neighbourhood walk for its members and their guests in which the group stopped before each of the designated houses and heard a brief biography of the fallen serviceman as read by an LHPS representative.Designed to educate the Leaside community about the great sacrifice made by these young men (virtually all were in their 20s), the project involved extensive independent archival research to identify the addresses (the soldiers’ names were already well known) and write the biographies of the young men being commemorated – not to mention the time and planning required to design and prepare the signs and contact the current homeowners for permission to place the signs of their lawns.
But the effort was worthwhile – as many of the participants expressed how moved they were by the experience and how valuable it had been to hear the soldiers’ stories and see their homes. They felt that it truly made Leaside’s history come alive.
Additional Project Team Members
Jennifer Avveduto: Project Creator
Ann Brown: Chair of the Leaside Heritage Preservation Society
Ted DeWelles: Project Editor, Writer, Researcher and Tour Narrator
Randy Diplock, Harding Station Uncorporate Video: Videographer
Susan Parr: Tour Narrator
Catherina Maughan: Tour Narrator