The Mayerthorpe park dedication ceremony may not be happening until Friday, but the event's main guests are already there.
Each individually wrapped in a tarp and hidden from the public's view, the individual statues of Consts. Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Brock Myrol and Leo Johnston are quietly standing in the memorial park dedicated to the fallen RCMP members.
James Roszko, a violent cop-hater with a criminal record, shot the four officers to death on March 3, 2005, in Mayerthorpe, Alta. The tragedy was the national police force's worst single-day loss of life in more than a century.
Roszko ended up taking his own life after trading gunfire with other police officers.
The attack occurred as the four officers guarded a Quonset hut on Roszko's property.
Members from the small town of 1,500 people began raising money for a permanent memorial to the fallen four one month after the shootings.
Margaret Thibault, one of the event's main organizers, said it wasn't difficult to raise the $1.8 million to turn the empty field into a majestic memorial.
"It's been work but it's been a project of the heart so it doesn't feel like work," she said.
More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the opening of the memorial park Friday, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Ed Stelmach.
Mayerthorpe Mayor Doug McDermid said the ceremony will continue to heal the old wounds of the terrible tragedy.
"I think the importance sort of speaks for itself," he said. "It's been three years of hard work that's been completed now by a group of dedicated citizens of Mayerthorpe."
Sheylan Thibault, a close friend of Consts. Johnston and Scheimann, said the tribute is a reflection of the officers' commitment to the community they served.
"They'd think it was pretty amazing," she said. "Just the support."
Friday's event will begin with a parade at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony gets underway at 11 a.m.
