A Field of Crosses

• Third annual event
• Inspired by Field of Crosses in Calgary
• 227 crosses in City Park

City Park is full of crosses representing the fallen soldiers from the Kelowna area whose lives were lost at war.

For the third year, the public will be able to pay their respects at the crosses.

Rick Potter, the Field of Crosses Project Chair and former President of the Rotary Club of Kelowna, said the crosses represent those who sacrificed their lives during a variety of conflicts, including both World Wars.

“What we’ve got here are representing 227 people that gave their lives, the ultimate sacrifice, so that we could experience the freedom that we do today,” Potter told Kelowna10.

He said it’s important for him and others to commemorate the lives of the Canadian Armed Forces personnel because they gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

“It’s quite moving walking through this. There’s the age of each of these, mostly young men, in their twenties typically. They had the same kind of hopes and dreams for life that we all have,” Potter explained.

“I think it would have been important for them to know that if something happened to them, that they would be not forgotten, that they would be remembered. So here we are, 70 and 100 years later, remembering them and remembering what they did on our behalf.”

Carol Eamer, a member of the Kelowna Rotary Club, was moved by the Field of Crosses in Calgary, which inspired her to create the project here in Kelowna.

“The whole idea was to somehow bring to life the names of the people who died serving their country and to particularly focus on students and having them come here,” Eamer said.

“[Students are] given names to research and they have to come find the name on the cross and write a story. It makes it real for them, rather than just coming down to the cenotaph and looking at the names.”