During the month of December, Angelina Ortega will be placing a display in the Maple Ridge library lobby showcase to recognize a recent event in Barcelona, Spain.

This was the unveiling of a plaque dedicating a street to the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion, honouring all 1,700 Canadians who fought in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939.

Ortega has lived in Canada for 30 years, but belongs to a Catalan Association in Vancouver which remembers its unique homeland.

Like the Basque region of northern Spain, the Calatan area surrounding Barcelona has its own language and culture, dating back to the 12th century Kingdom of Aragon.

Catalonia has long struggled to be an independent part of Spain. It was granted status as an autonomous region in 1979.

Perhaps one of the best known Canadians who went to Spain in the 1930s to fight the army of Gen. Franco was Dr. Norman Bethune. He put his medical skill to work establishing a unique mobile blood transfusion unit, which is credited with saving many lives of wounded combatants who would otherwise have died on the battlefield.

After he left Spain, Bethune continued this work in China, where he later died.

The Spanish Civil War has been described as a prelude to the Second World War. Gen. Franco was trying to overthrow the elected Republican government of Spain. Franco called in help from Hitler’s growing war machine and men and equipment from Mussolini’s Italy.

People from many countries arrived in Spain to try to fight Franco’s forces.

The Canadian contingent was made up of many men newly arrived in Canada, already struggling to survive in the depression era times.

There were bitter battles around Madrid, with some of the final fighting of the war around Barcelona. Franco took over in 1939.

The memorial plaque is installed in Barcelona on a pedestrian street consisting of a series of staircases, now re-named “The Canadian Stairways.”

Another feature of the display is the Catalan flag, with its six vertical stripes of red and yellow.

A second display window will feature the Basilica at Montserrat, which is celebrating its 600th anniversary.

This is located about an hour’s drive from Barcelona, on ground that has been venerated for more than 100,000 years as a holy place, with many associated legends.

A little closer to home, the Maple Ridge Museum will also be displaying artifacts and information from its collection in the other two library showcases during December.

The themes will be the origins of the Christmas tree tradition, which was brought to Britain from Germany. Queen Victoria’s consort Prince Albert introduced the custom of bringing an evergreen tree indoors at Christmas time, and decorating it with lit candles – very carefully.

The second showcase will feature all the seasonal decorations associated with the tree and our homes during the season of Christmas.

Sheila Nickols is a board member of the Maple Ridge

Historical Society.