CORNWALL, Ontario – On your lapel or over your heart, however you decide to don the international symbol of remembrance, it honours those who fought our freedom.
“This is our way of helping the veterans and their families,” said Royal Canadian Legion Branch 297 president Linda Fisher. “Without the great support from the citizens of Cornwall, and surrounding communities, the legion would not be able to support our veterans, the funds raised through the poppy campaign are a great help.”
Hugh Primeau Sr., poppy campaign chair and RCL Branch 297 1st vice president, told Seaway News legion reps will be out front of local retail shops and grocery markets daily selling poppies starting today until Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Any donation is welcomed.
“Last year, we handed out 50,000 poppies,” said Primeau Sr. “To me, personally, they represent the person who made the supreme sacrifice so that we can be here and live free.”
“Wear your poppy, and wear it proudly,” added Fisher.
Every elementary school and high school, many convenience stores, as well as The Beer Store and the LCBO locations throughout the Cornwall area, will have small stations where people can pick up a poppy.
The funds will help aging veterans and their widows pay for their health care bills, a therapy dog program for Afghanistan veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), ex-service people in financial distress, as well as funding for medical appliances and research, home services, care facilities, and numerous other purposes.
Plans for Remembrance Day include a solemn march by Legion members from the branch headquarters at Second and Cumberland streets to the cenotaph a few blocks away, where wreaths will be laid.
The long-standing tradition of donning a red poppy runs from the last Friday in October until the end of the day on Nov. 11.
For more information, call the legion’s poppy office at (613) 933-6161.
FAST FACTS
1921 — The year the poppy was adopted as the symbol of remembrance by the predecessor to the Royal Canadian Legion
Oct. 30 — When the poppy campaign launches this year
18,000,000 — The number of poppies sold in Canada each year
70,000 — The number of wreaths, crosses and sprays distributed across Canada and overseas annually
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
~ John McCrae
(As published in Punch Magazine, 8 December, 1915.)
