The Lest We Forget Park was erected by the Lest We Forget Club. The Club was composed of a group of dedicated widows, wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters of Veterans of the First World War. They established the park in 1922 after a parcel of land was donated from the Lacombe School Board. The Club raised money for the park through a fair with tea cup readings; silver tea and bake sales combined with concerts and fortune telling; and dances. A concert by local artists was held in the Vet theatre in October of the same year.
The park and gate were designed by Cecil Scott Burgess. Burgess was an important architect and popular academic at the University of Alberta. The design is based on an axial plan with the cenotaph serving as the central element. All pathways into the park had a direct sight line to the cenotaph. The park was officially opened in mid-1925 by Mayor P. Pratt.
Each family in the district was invited to plant a tree in memory of a member who died in the war. Trees represented the promise of everlasting life. The growth of the trees was not anticipated and when it became necessary to uproot some, there was considerable controversy and bad feelings over which ones to remove. The date for the uprooting is not known.
