Four H.J. Cody High School students are volunteering to build display cabinets for Veterans Voices of Canada’s History Interest and Learning Centre, set to open May 2.
Al Cameron, Veterans Voices founder, said it is amazing to have youth involved in building display cabinets.
“It’ll be nice to have younger people coming behind and help us do what we are doing.”
Students started building on April 11 and aim to have five cabinets ready by end of next week.
“Certainly, the support of veterans is very important. From an educational perspective it is allowing students to do real life hands on projects where their product will be on display for the whole community,” said school principal Mike Garrow.
Cameron hopes to use a total of 10 cabinets for display.
Each cabinet will represent different time periods including displays of World War I, World War II, the Afghanistan War and the Persian Gulf War, along with one cabinet assigned for display of Indigenous artifacts. The display items will be rotated every few months.
“I am hoping that this is going to grow and we could get into a bigger space eventually,” said Cameron.
Grade 12 student Tristan Johnson shared his interest working on the project with classmates Tyvan Rae and Parker Allred.
“It’s nice to build something for the community and for everyone to see,” said Johnson. “I wanted to put my all into something for a museum that will be displayed.”
“We are hoping that people are going to come forward and donate items,” said Cameron, adding that historical artifacts and belongings of veterans are welcomed.
The Town of Sylvan Lake is temporarily loaning a 1913 Sylvan Lake police officer’s uniform to the museum.
Located at 202-5015 50th St., the museum will be open from Tuesday to Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. To donate or connect with Veterans Voices email ac@vetvoicecan.org.