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No road for Victoria Cross winner

Last Updated: Friday, October 27, 2006 | 11:16 AM AT

A small community in Cumberland County is in a dispute over how to honour a local war hero.

The Shore Drive Community Association wants to change the name of Fox River Road to Chip Kerr VC Memorial Drive, but council voted the proposal down Wednesday.

"There should be a highway or some recognition for Victoria Cross winner Chip Kerr, who was born and raised in Fox River," said Ruth Allen, a former District 10 councillor and spokeswoman for the association.

John Chipman Kerr was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1916 for singlehandedly capturing 62 enemy soldiers in France.

Only 94 Canadians have been awarded the medal, the highest military decoration for bravery in the British Commonwealth.

Kerr, who lived in Alberta and British Columbia, has a mountain peak and park named in his honour. He's also honoured on the Port Greville cenotaph near his hometown. 

Many people who live on Fox River Road don't want it named after Kerr.

If they want to change the name of the old dirt road, said Wanetta Tanner, "pave it and make it look all nice."

The current councillor for the area, Ratchford Merriam, says renaming the road is not an appropriate way to honour Kerr.

"Naming a pothole infested dirt road, and a dead-end road at that, is not a fitting tribute to a VC cross winner," he said.

But Allen says the fight may not be over.

"I am hoping that people will feel the need to discuss it further," she said.

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