“They Walked These Streets, We Will Remember Them” Remembrance Week Commemorations have expanded this year to tell over 1350 stories. 

Visit 13 locations in the neighbourhood to learn about these soldiers who died in the First and Second World Wars

 The project:

• an innovative and interactive community Remembrance week commemoration in Bloor West Village. 

• engages community members in learning about the contributions and the sacrifice of soldiers who served in the First and Second World Wars and who never returned.

• vision of two Toronto District School Board teachers, Katy Whitfield and Ian Da Silva, both residents of Bloor West Village and former students at Runnymede Public School and Swansea Public School and graduates of Humberside Collegiate.

Back story: 

• The idea came about in November 2020, with the creation of homemade poppies (made out of pool noodles) by Ian’s young children. 

• Katy Whitfield researched some stories about local soldiers to accompany the poppies, and helped the neighbourhood understand how it had been impacted by the world wars and by the loss of young men who served and who died in the wars.

Learning about the stories of soldiers who served in the World Wars in an innovative and engaging way!

• Now in its 6th year the project tells the stories of over 1350 soldiers in the army, air force, navy. There are even a couple of soldiers who served in the Korean War.

• Research for the project has been done by Katy Whitfield, an award-winning Canadian history teacher (2015 recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching)

• Military records have been accessed from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and the Canadian Great War project, as well as the Service Files in the Library and Archives of Canada

• Names, addresses, service records of the soldiers, as well as photographs, newspaper articles, medals, and other community connections to the schools, churches and community organizations they were a part of have been uncovered in the research. 

Scope of the project:

• • Stretches from the west at the Humber River and extends east to Dufferin Street, and from Lake Ontario to the railroad tracks north of Dundas in the Junction-it encompasses the stories from Humbercrest, Bloor West Village, the Junction, High Park, Swansea, Roncesvalles and Parkdale

How we tell the stories of the soldiers :

• Each soldier’s story is told using an info-card that documents their military service, accompanied by a QR Code that allows the viewer to connect to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial Website which provides more detail and documents about the soldier’s war experience. 

• The info-cards also feature:

  • logos of the schools and/or churches they attended. 

Value of this type of storytelling: 

• Students and community members can connect with the soldier’s experiences as they had attended the same schools and churches. 

Community connections: 

• Poppies have been hand-made by members of the local Embers, Girl Guides, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts organizations and local elementary school students, who have learned about these important histories and are contributing to this local grassroots project in authentic ways. 

• Young people who have visited the displays have been heard saying, “he went to my school” or “he lived on my street!” This project has resonated with residents of all ages in many meaningful ways.