FRIDAY
S I N C E
NOVEMBER 8, 2013
The Trail Times
1 8 9 5 office will be closed Monday, Nov 11 for Remembrance Day
Vol. 118, Issue 177
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Sister completes journey to honour brother who died in WW II
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Ruth Roberts travels bumpy road to top of mountain to say goodbye
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Growing up in Greater Trail during the Great Depression Ruth Roberts cherished what few belongings she had. In 1943 when her brother went off to war he lent her his bicycle, the only one in the family, and his almost-new lunch bucket. She carried that treasure proudly to school while most of her peers used lard pails and in the brighter day, re-used paper bags. She considered her brother her hero and never thought war would take him. She has spent a lifetime missing him and revisiting the days before his death. The 86-year-old Burnaby woman reflects this Remembrance Day with a long-awaited feeling of closure after a visit to Fruitvale officially let her say goodbye to her brother who was killed in the Second World War. Ruth Roberts traveled home to Greater Trail with her husband Fred this fall to visit a mountain peak in the village that has been named after her brother Canadian Scottish Regiment Private Douglas Botterill McDonald. After almost a decade of coming across the B.C. Remembrance Day Naming program, whereby a geographical feature can be named to remember a wartime fatality, Roberts feels that she's
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Private Douglas McDonald (inset) and the local peak named in his honour (above photo looking north from Fruitvale). accomplished a dream of hers and knows she's made her brother proud. “It's just overwhelming and it brings tears to my eyes,”she told the Times back in September when she visited McDonald Peak for the first time. “We lived in Fruitvale all those years and we’ve been back so many times and looked up there in the mountains and had no idea that someday it would be named after him.” The nearly 1,600 meter-high peak is known locally as one of the “Golden Hills” and is one of five peaks along a summit ridge of the mountain massif separating Kelly Creek and the Pend d'Oreille River. The peak that can be spotted from downtown is a constant reminder of the important contribution her brother
made to his country. Douglas Botterill McDonald was born Aug. 7, 1924 in Ashcroft but spent much of his short life in Trail, Robson and Fruitvale. His father brought his family to the Trail area in 1929 when he started working at Cominco. The “country boy” always considered Fruitvale home, said Roberts, because he spent his teen years there before enlisting in the Armed Forces in 1943. He went onto serve in Normandy with the 1st Btn, Canadian Scottish regiment and was killed in action Aug. 15 1944 at Falaise. He was 20 years old. “I buried him on Aug. 17 in a burial ground near where he fell and alongside those who gave their lives,” said Roberts. “They
say only the good die young, and he was good.” She is certain that if her brother skipped fate, he would have spent the rest of his days in Fruitvale and would have celebrated his 89th birthday this past Aug. 7 if he was still alive. “But since Doug was not able to return to Fruitvale himself, I feel that having this peak (McDonald Peak, which is only five miles from downtown Fruitvale) named in honour of him, that he will be forever connected to Fruitvale – symbolically and spiritually,” said Roberts. “He will forever be looking down at Fruitvale.” Roberts ventured up to the peak early fall with her 89-year-old husband Fred. See LUNCH, Page 3
Remembrance Day schedules:
Trail -10:30 a.m. march from the Fortis Building to the Cenotaph. -10:45 a.m. singing of “O Canada” with Major Wilf Harbin leading in prayer and Reverend Meridyth Robertson giving the Address. WWII veteran May Batch and Sgt. Shane Batch will read the Honour Roll -11 a.m. Last Post followed by two minutes of silence. -United Church will have refreshments for parade participants after the service. Everyone is invited to the Legion for hot stew and a day of entertainment from the Trail Maple Leaf Band, Trail Pipe Band at 2 p.m., Highland dancers at 2:30 p.m. and Steps Dance Company at 3:30 p.m. Fruitvale -10:45 a.m. Honour guard march to the Cenotaph and singing of “O Canada,” with Minister Kent Maddigan officiating, followed by a service and two minutes of silence. Courtesy lunch at the Fruitvale Memorial Hall will follow laying of the wreaths. Everyone welcome. Rossland -10 a.m. service held at the Royal Canadian Legion hall with Reverend Ken Siemens officiating. -10:45 march to the Cenotaph. -11 a.m. Last Post followed by two minutes of silence and laying of wreaths. -Noon, activities shift back to the Legion hall with hot stew, and music by the Trail Pipe Band, Golden City Fiddlers, the Harmaniacs and Katie Shaw dancers. Salmo - Saturday, Legion banquet to honour veterans, call 3579516 to rsvp -10:30 a.m. parade of Legion members, air cadets and girl guides through town and back to Cenotaph -11 a.m. Last Post followed by two minutes of silence and laying of wreaths -11:15 ceremony moves inside Legion hall and includes service by Reverend Doug Lewis, followed by refreshments.
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