(Riding the Cottonwood Express was a crowd favorite on Sunday.  Photos 250 News)

Prince George, B.C. – What does Canada mean to you?  It’s a question you may want to contemplate as Canadians prepare to celebrate the nation’s 147th birthday tomorrow on Canada Day.

When asked the question Bruce Gabriel, President of Branch 43 of the Royal Canadian Legion, says “Canada Day is a day to celebrate the fact that we live in what we believe is the greatest country in the world, and if someone has a greater country than ours they’re very fortunate.  It shows the freedom we have to live in this country and though it’s not perfect, we live in a great country.  People would give anything to be able to do what we’re doing today, and we just take this for granted, walking around.  I mean we appreciate it, but there’s so many people if they could do that once a year, they’d think they died and went to heaven.”

(Standing in front of the Flags of Honour, Bruce Garbriel feels Canada should be appreciated)

“The other thing that got to me today is you meet a lot of new people and people are just coming up and thanking you for all you do.  Because there are so many of us involved, it’s not like anyone is going out of their way.  Ya you give up your day for this but it’s a great day, like my wife and kids are here, my grandchildren are here so its just awesome.  Its just a way to celebrate and it makes us appreciate how fortunate we are as people.  And the flags are just another sign to remind us that freedom comes at a high, high price, and a lot of people gave their lives and limbs so we could celebrate like this.”

The celebration Bruce was referring to was happening all around us at the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum on Sunday.  The Legion teamed up with the museum folks to hold the Legion’s annual family event, which up till now has been staged at its location but this year was held at the museum.  “We wanted to change things up a bit this year”, says Gabriel, “we got together with Ranjit Gill here, and she’s also a member of the Legion, so we got a little committee together and decided we would do it here.”

(The large crowds on hand would seem to approve of the Railway Museum/Legion partnership)

Admission for the day was quite minimal.  “The thing they had going at the main door was the donation of a can of something that went to the Salvation Army Food Bank.  And then inside we provided all the hot dogs, hamburgers and refreshments as part of Legion week.   This is the first time we’ve done it over here and I would suspect we might make it an annual thing.  We don’t know for sure yet, but it’s gone great and a lot of people say it’s the best party they’ve ever seen over here.  It’s been a good day, people were steady going through and very appreciative.  Also we’ve given free train rides, even just adults without kids, so that’s good, we had a lot of ticket that we gave out.”

The Legion filled the railway museum grounds with its Canadian flags of honour, each one representing the 159 Canadian soldiers who lost their lives as a result of combat in Afghanistan.  Gabriel says the flags are brought out for special occasions and will make an appearance again for Remembrance Day.

He says a little bit down the road the Legion and Museum people will have a meeting and see whether they want to pursue this joint effort in the future.  “It certainly has been very successful and it’s hard to get away from something that’s a success and the Railway Museum they’ve just been very gracious to us over here.  And both places, that’s what we’re here for and as President of the Legion, we want to show the community that we are involved, we do care.”