Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development
October 29, 2015

The following is being distributed at the request of The Rooms Corporation:

Commemorating Our Province's History

Commemoration Plans will Engage Province's Families and Communities

On Thursday morning, The Rooms launched the Remember Them at The Rooms public campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Beaumont-Hamel and Newfoundland and Labrador's involvement in the First World War. General Rick Hillier and Tom Foran, co-chairs of The Rooms First World War Capital Campaign, and Dean Brinton, CEO of The Rooms Corporation, Newfoundland and Labrador, unveiled the Where Once They Stood We Stand donor acknowledgement wall, recognizing the major contributors to the capital campaign to date.

Following the unveiling, The Rooms premiered the commemorative video, I Will Sing You Home. The video, created to heighten the awareness of this significant anniversary, is an initiative of The Rooms in partnership withThe Ennis Sisters, Shallaway Youth Choir and CBC, and can be found on the home page of The Rooms new website www.therooms.ca .

"By donating to the campaign, everyone can take part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to commemorate those who served overseas and at home -and to preserve their legacy long into the future".
- General Rick Hillier, Co-chair, The Rooms First World War Capital Campaign

Donations to the campaign will be used to complete and sustain The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery and related projects for the future. For every donation of $100 or more, The Rooms will give $10 to assist today's military families in Newfoundland and Labrador. Donations of $100 or more will receive a pewter Forget-Me-Not commemorative keepsake. Charitable tax receipts will be issued.

More information regarding the Remember Them at The Rooms Campaign can be found online at The Rooms new website www.therooms.ca and is included in the backgrounder below.

QUICK FACTS

  • On Thursday morning, The Rooms launched the Remember Them at The Rooms public campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Beaumont-Hamel and Newfoundland and Labrador's involvement in the First World War.
  • A Donor Acknowledgement wall has been unveiled, indicating the contributions to The Rooms Where Once They Stood We Stand Capital Fundraising Campaign to date.
  • The public can contribute to Remember Them at The Rooms campaign by donating $100. Ten dollars of this donation will go towards assisting today's military families in Newfoundland and Labrador.
  • Donations of $100 or more will receive a pewter Forget- Me-Not commemorative keepsake. Charitable tax receipts will be issued.

- 30 -

Media contacts:

Tansy Mundon
Director of Communications
Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development
709-729-4570, 693-1865
tansymundon@gov.nl.ca 		Vanessa McBay
The Rooms
vanessamcbay@therooms.ca
709-757-8070

BACKGROUNDER
The Rooms Where Once They Stood We Stand Capital Campaign

The Rooms Where Once They Stood We Stand Capital Campaign has raised $10 million towards the completion of the following projects:

  • Site development - former site of Fort Townshend - where the first Newfoundland Regiment was formed in 1797. A courtyard and amphitheatre will grace the entrance of The Rooms. The site will be dedicated to the memory of those that served overseas and on the home front.
  • The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery, which will house the exhibitionThe Battle of Beaumont-Hamel and the Trail of the Caribou: Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at War and at Home 1914-1949.
  • The exhibition will document the effects of the First World War on Newfoundland and Labrador and will focus on those who fought, the families and communities left behind, and on the politics, economy and future of Newfoundland and Labrador.
  • The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery will include personal stories and first-hand accounts alongside archival documents and artifacts bringing to life the stories of the First World War and its ripple effect on life in Newfoundland and Labrador through to Confederation in 1949. The exhibition will open on July 1, 2016, the 100th anniversary of Beaumont-Hamel.
  • A First World War website and public school programs will accompany the exhibition. In addition, a travelling exhibition, Newfoundland and the Somme, to be created in partnership with the Canadian War Museum, will visit communities across Newfoundland and Labrador from 2016 onwards.

2015 10 29                              10:25 a.m.