Ontario鈥檚 Highway of Heroes is growing greener by the day as battalions of volunteers work towards their goal of honoring every Canadian who served in the armed forces since Confederation with individual living monuments.
The charity project, dubbed 鈥�,鈥� aims to plant two million trees near Highway 401 between Trenton, Ont. and Toronto. The 170-kilometre stretch of road was given its heroic title in 2007 to reflect its use as a route for funeral convoys transporting fallen soldiers between CFB Trenton to the coroner鈥檚 office in Toronto.
Most of the two million trees will be 鈥渟ervice trees,鈥� planted as a tribute to veterans in areas and towns along the Highway of Heroes. Of that total, 117,000 鈥渉ero trees鈥� will line the actual highway to honour those who lost their lives fighting for Canada.
Gardening expert Mark Cullen is overseeing the massive project. He said 17,000 trees have been planted since the project launched two years ago, and planting is expected to be complete by 2022.
鈥淥ur children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, they are all going to experience a living tribute to the sacrifice that has been made over the last 150 years since Confederation,鈥� Cullen said. 鈥淭hey are living, providing a constant reminder to everybody that drives by the highway that we need to remember.鈥�
Cpl. Nick Kerr served in Afghanistan in 2006. He feels humbled by the fact that one of the unnamed trees planted as part of the project will be for him.
Kerr said he prefers an army of trees standing at attention over more stone cenotaphs. He thinks of the eight friends he lost on the battlefield as he works to bring the sprawling memorial to life.
鈥淚 was a pallbearer for all eight of them,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very time I put a tree in the ground, I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾hat one is for you buddy.鈥欌��
Busloads of students are pitching in as well. A group from a Toronto elementary school hopes to plant 500 saplings.
The cold ground makes for hard digging, but the symbolism of the tiny trees that will grow into mighty wooden solders is not lost on them.
鈥淚t represents all the soldiers that died,鈥� said 10-year old Anjalie Sahadeo. 鈥淭hey protected Canada.鈥�
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Peter Akman in Toronto
