There was a much needed facelift Friday for a memorial park dedicated to Canada's wartime sacrifice.

The upgrade in east Saint John was inspired by one man's link to a much-revered Maritime regiment.

There were new benches, a fresh coat of paint, and lots of other improvements being made to an old park, that's new to carpentry student Lauren Jardine.

“I’ve seen the cannon a few times, but I didn't know there was an actual park up here,” Jardine said.

There was a similar response to a call for help from the Royal Canadian Legion earlier this week.

“There are people who responded on Facebook. ‘Jervis Bay Park, where is that?’” said Harold Wright of Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 53. “People didn't know.”

The park is home to a cenotaph and lots of other monuments to Canada's wartime sacrifice.

But the park needed work, so Wright put out the call.

Within minutes, he got enthusiastic commitments on Facebook.

“It's so nice that so many Saint John companies, they always step up,” Wright said.

In this case, businessman John Belding stepped up.

“You drive by every day,” Belding said. “You see the cannon or whatever, but you don't realize exactly what it is.”

Belding had another reason for sponsoring the park refurbishment.  His father was a member of the North Shore New Brunswick Regiment, one of the regiments saluted this week for landing on Juno Beach in the Normandy invasion 75 years ago.

“I thoroughly appreciate the sacrifices that they made,” Belding said. “This is nothing compared to what they gave.”

And Friday, a handful of people gave back, sprucing up memorials to the sacrifices Canadians made in the First World War, the Second World War, and the Korean Conflict.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.