This memorial is dedicated to the men and women who gave their lives for their country. Its dedication service was held on Saturday, September 28, 1957 at 2:30 p.m. Contributions by the following organizations made this memorial possible: Linkon Company Ltd., Local 665, I.B.P.S.P.M.W.; Silver Birch Chapter 264; Knights of Columbus, Council No. 3554; Loyal Order of Moose; Terrace Bay Enterprises; Women of the Moose, Chapter No. 1426; The Improvement District of Terrace Bay; Terrace Bay High School Student Body; Local 1861, I.B.E.W.; Kiwanis Club of Terrace Bay; Kimberly-Clark Pulp and Paper Company Limited, Building Block & Supply Company and a committee headed by E.A. Marostica.
Excerpts from the Terrace Bay News, Vol. 7, No. 39 October 3, 1957 - The Committee responsible for the Cenotaph and the Service is indebted to all the people and organizations who helped in any way to make the entire project possible. For the reaction of most everyone from Terrace Bay and elsewhere was most favourable.
As an example of that reaction portions of the editorial from one of the Lakehead papers dated September 30th is re-printed below. Uncommon Cenotaph In the beautiful sylvan setting of Terrace Bay a Cenotaph was unveiled and dedicated on Saturday afternoon. The ceremony was distinguished by an importance attached to the event not often observed in similar rites. The dedication address was delivered by Major-General W. Megill, D.S.O., C.D., General Officer Commanding Prairie Command. The band in attendance was one with a national reputation for excellence, the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Band from Winnipeg.
Yet as one stood there in the soft warm sunshine of the late September day, sharing with the large crowd the moving tribute to men and women who died in the service of their country one significant fact kept demanding attention. Here was not a memorial to young men and women of Terrace Bay who answered their country's call in the two great wars. There was no Terrace Bay until 1946. When the Second World War was being waged, there was not a single human being living in the area of forest land which is now the site of one of the most up-to-date towns in Canada. Terrace Bay residents have been recruited from every province in the Dominion. So it is that in building their Cenotaph they have made it a national monument, commemorating the sacrifice of brothers and sons, or relatives and friends who donned their uniforms in towns and cities scattered from coast to coast.
That community spirit was reflected in the faces of the crowd that circled the Cenotaph on the spacious lawn beside the Recreation Centre. From the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides lined up in their uniforms, to the veterans wearing the berets of the Legion to the men and women whose eyes bespoke their interest in the tribute to the dead, the Cenotaph became a tribute to the dead, the Cenotaph became a community rallying point for the expression of a common pride and sorrow springing from personal loss emerging from the wars.
Terrace Bay has gained wide attention through the erection of artistic modern homes for everybody, the establishment of a modern hospital, a smart shopping centre, a luxury hotel, attractive churches and schools, an artificial ice arena and a recreation centre. But perhaps more than anything else, the new Cenotaph, placed where all may see from the Highway, is the crowning touch of cultural advancement Terrace Bay has made.
