Today, many community members gathered at 478 Yonge Street, beside the Coroner’s office to witness the unveiling of the Highway of Heroes Mural. This mural was created in honor of our fallen soldiers. Five youths from the Flemingdon community along with their mentor worked tirelessly for two weeks to complete this immense project. Many highly respected members of the community were in attendance, including MP Rob Oliphant, MPP Kathleen Wynne, and Councillor John Parker. Members of the Toronto Police Force also came to support the unveiling. They were joined by a two military officers. This event was covered by many news stations. The procession of a fallen soldier makes its way through the city and ends at the Coroner’s office, making this place highly significant for this beautiful mural.
The unveiling ceremony began with a welcome by Christiana, the Youth Worker at Flemingdon Neightbourhood Services. After a brief explanation by the youth and their mentor about the mural and what it represents, the military officers expressed their deep gratitude for this honourable act. Kathleen Wynne, Rob Oliphant and John Parker each expressed their appreciation for the project and the youths. Scott Mills, the social media worker of the Toronto Police played an important role in this mural project. It was at his suggestion that this project got started.
After the official unveiling, I stuck around for a couple of interviews. The military officer almost left before I was able to interview him. The result was a chase down an alleyway and multiple tries at trying to find a right place for the interview.
John Parker, the Municipal Councillor agreed to do an interview.
Lastly, I had an interview with Scott Mills, who played a big part in getting this mural project started.
All in all, the mural unveiling was a great success and we hope to see many more projects from these youth in the future.