CHARLTON - A new cenotaph will be erected in Charlton in the fall.

Gisele Belanger, deputy-clerk for the Municipality of Charlton and Dack, reported to council that the stone for the new cenotaph has finally arrived.

A large slab of India Black granite, quarried and cut in India, has been received by Sanderson Monuments, which is preparing the cenotaph.

It will stand about six feet and four inches tall, and will bear the names of Charlton area men who gave their lives in World Wars I and II.

The World War I fallen include: F. Darkness, W. Dogue, W. Gray, F. Hermeston, S. McComb, A. Pardon, P. Ryan, J. Smith, S. Stark, J. Tappenden, and W. Watters.

The World War II fallen are: H. Brown, M. Cleary, M. Conway, M. Robinson, S. Taylor, T. Martin, and A.J. Coles.

Belanger explained the rock was chosen because it will maintain its deep black colour.

However, the process of shipping and receiving the slab caused a delay in the project, she said.

"We just got it into Orillia."

The project will have a cost of $18,290. The federal government has provided $10,000 for it through Federal Affairs.

Belanger said the former cenotaph, located beside the Charlton Heritage Centre, was decaying with holes and hollow spaces inside the rocks. She said the municipality will be working to clean up the site in readiness for the installation of the new cenotaph.

Originally the project had been slated at $15,000, with the municipality providing $2,500 in cash and $2,500 in labour, but the project’s cost has risen as time passed.

Reeve Sandra Parkins commented of the project, "It really needs to be done."

Darlene Wroe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker