Early in the morning Emden Mayor Tim Kruithoff and Emden Councillor Hillgriet Eilers accompanied by Zandbelt visited with Thea Chouinard and Beate Stewart at The Gathering House in Chesterville. While there the guests were presented with a package of poppies to take home to Germany, with Mayor Kruithoff explaining a package of forget-me-nots will be sent here. From the left, front row: Thea Chouinard and Beate Stewart. Back row: Emden Mayor Tim Kruithoff, Emden Councillor Hillgriet Eilers and Vince Zandbelt. Thompson Goddard Photo

CHESTERVILLE – Emden Mayor Tim Kruithoff and former member of the Lower Saxony State Parliament and current Emden Councillor Hillgriet Eilers, accompanied by North Dundas resident Vince Zandbelt had a whirlwind tour of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry during their two-day visit to the area.

In preparation for a holiday trip to The Netherlands, Zandbelt had contacted LCol (Ret’d) Bill Shearing, a former Honourary LCol of the SDG Highlanders for some information on the Regiment’s World War Two service in that country. He planned to investigate the possibility of the United Counties of SDG being twinned with a European city, with Shearing suggesting either Zutphen in the Netherlands or Emden in Germany as two possibilities. After speaking with Emden officials and learning a delegation from the city would be visiting Canada in the fall, Kruithoff and Eilers agreed to visit the area to meet local politicians and residents as a first step to investigate the possibility of twinning Emden and SDG Counties.

Their first stop included a visit to the SDG Counties building in Cornwall on Thurs., Oct. 30 for an informal meeting with SDG Warden Martin Lang, SDG Warden-elect François Landry and North Dundas Mayor Tony Fraser. SDG Corporate Communications Officer Todd Lihou provided an interesting and informative tour of the jail, providing a lot of information on it as well as the historic building itself.

The connection between SDG Counties and the City of Emden begins with participation of soldiers from the SDG Highlanders playing a pivotal role in the liberation of Emden as the war ended in May 1945, with Kruithoff describing in detail acts of remembrance in his country. These include 10 students from Lower Saxony, the area in which Emden is located, travel to German military cemetery of Saint-Désir in France to care for the graves of fallen German soldiers and place a candle on each of the gravestones and the names of the fallen are read. He noted in the nearby Allied cemetery, French students care for the resting places there, with a pathway between the two cemeteries created in 2006 and called “Allée de la Paix.”

It was stressed how this was an opportunity for officials from the two communities to meet each other, with any discussions about the “twinning” of them still in the initial planning stages. “I am looking forward to the project and will support it” commented Warden Lang as the meeting ended.

Following lunch Zandbelt, Eilers and Kruithoff departed for the Cornwall Armoury, where they met with representatives from the SDG Association and a member of the Regiment. While there, they were able to tour the Regimental Museum and the Officer’s Mess, learning about aspects of the military history of SDG and the role played by the SDG Highlanders. Their day finished with a visit to Royal Canadian Legion Branch 108 where they learnt about the “Field of Crosses” project undertaken by students at North Dundas District High School in 2024.

The following morning a visit to the Gathering House in Chesterville where the group met with local residents Beate Stewart and her sister Thea Chouinard was held. The sisters emigrated to Canada from Germany several years ago and were instrumental in the project which has created thousands of crocheted or knitted poppies which are used in Remembrance displays throughout North Dundas.

A gift of several poppies made by Thea and Beate were presented to Kruithoff and Eilers during the visit. Mayor Kruithoff explained while they are aware of the significance of the poppy, it is the forget-me-not which is the flower used by the Germany people as a symbol of remembrance. After thanking the ladies for their gift, he mentioned they will become part of the Remembrance Day commemoration in Emden, with some crocheted or knitted forget-me-not flowers to be sent to North Dundas to be used for the local Remembrance Day displays.

Prior to leaving for their flight to Germany on Oct. 31, Zandbelt and the guests travelled to the Hill 70 Memorial in Mountain for a brief ceremony with individuals involved in the revitalization project of this war memorial, with their visit to SDG ending with a meeting in Winchester of municipal staff and council members as well as SDG MP Eric Duncan and SDSG MPP Nolan Quinn.

New friendships have been forged between the people of the area and our German guests during this whirlwind tour of SDG. While several gifts were exchanged, perhaps the greatest gift will be the friendships which have been forged during the time together, the opportunity to develop closer cultural ties and, in this month of remembrance, realizing the importance of remembering all sacrifices made in the pursuit of peace.