Celebration of war hero’s 110th birthday to take place in St. Andrews
Sgt. Tommy Prince is a legendary hero. He’s known for his acts of bravery during wartime, rescuing a person from the Red River, and his advocacy work once he was back in Canada. But perhaps he’s most well known as Canada’s most decorated First Nations soldier, serving in World War II and the Korean War. To celebrate this great person, who was born in the Petersfield area, a ceremonial celebration of Tommy Prince is being planned for Oct. 25.
“Our goal is not only to honour Sgt. Tommy Prince, not only to bring the community together, but to bring the country together. Because Canada needs this,” said Holly Whall, who, with her husband Dennis, is part of the organizing committee for this event.
She explained that the inspiration to host this event came from the realization that Sgt. Tommy Prince’s 110th birthday is coming up.
Once the idea to host an event like this came about, they decided to contact Wayne Manningway, the spiritual healer from Peguis First Nations, for guidance.
“We talked to him, and he’s behind us one million per cent. He is going to come out and do the ceremony. It’s a traditional ceremony. We’re going to have Indigenous drummers. We’re going to have two teepees put up outside the hall. We’re going to have a sacred fire, and he’s going to do a 40-minute ceremony,” said Holly.
The event is going to be held at Petersfield Hall and will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 25, but the sacred fire will be lit in the morning and will go on all day.
This event is going to be well attended, with members of the Prince family flying in and a special VIP section set aside for members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and the First Special Service Force.
Holly said that one of the most important parts of having this celebration locally is that they have the Prince family’s blessing to go forward with this event.
“We hold that near and dear to our hearts, because our goal is to make them proud. We want to celebrate our hometown hero, and we want to make the family proud,” said Holly.
This celebration fittingly takes place on Prince’s 110th birthday as he was born on Oct. 25, 1915.
“The day of the event, we’ll have dignitaries coming. We have the support of the RM of St. Andrews and Mayor Joy Sul. We have the support of Brokenhead First Nation and Chief Gordon Bluesky. We have the support from Peguis’s Chief, Stan Bird,” said Holly.
She explained that they will also have an information booth set up about Sergeant Tommy Prince and his life, but it’s not just going to be educational. It’s going to be a heartfelt afternoon.
“Everybody is welcome. The hall holds 300 people,” said Holly.
She has let people on the History of Petersfield Manitoba Facebook Page know about this event, but this is an event that is for more than just that group, as any adults with a connection to our area or Sgt. Tommy Prince will likely find this event interesting, and children, as well as people from outside the area, are also welcome.
Holly feels that it’s important for our community to host an event like this.
“I think by bringing this into our community and educating people is a wonderful thing. It’s part of Truth and Reconciliation, and we want to play a small part in making that happen. It’s important. And with all the bad things that are going on in the world today, it’s important to stand up and make a difference of some sort,” she said.
In addition to helping bring our community together, she doesn’t want Prince’s story to be lost.
“Our motivation and drive is (also to share) the history of Petersfield. He was a big part of the history of Petersfield, being born here. His family, a lot of them were from here, and are related to the chiefs and other people who were on this land. (We’ve had a) road dedicated, as long as I remember, to Sergeant Tommy Prince. It’s Tom Prince Drive,” said Holly.
Dennis and Holly hope that residents will come to celebrate.
“Come and celebrate. Open your hearts, open your minds, and come celebrate one of Canada’s finest,” said Holly.
She also added that there will be coffee and cake.
Holly also wanted to thank the family of Sgt. Tommy Prince for welcoming the celebration.
