NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE - Loreen Piehl-Wiedemann (left) of the ladies auxilliary and Sheila Donner, president of the Robertson Memorial Legion sit at a poppy campaign table in Medicine Hat Mall Friday.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
The annual Royal Canadian Legion poppy campaign was launched on Friday.
Each year from the last Friday in October to Nov. 11, millions of people wear a poppy as a visual show of support for Canada’s veterans.
Poppies are provided free of charge but the Legion gratefully accepts donations to the Poppy Fund, said Sheila Donner, campaign chair and president of the Royal Canadian Legion Robertson Memorial Branch #17.
The poppy campaign is conducted by branches of the Legion in cities, towns and communities. Donations are held in “trust at the branch level to directly support veterans and their families within their community.”
“Our community is very generous. Every bit helps,” said Donner.
If you would like to volunteer at a poppy campaign table, Donner says there are still some time slots available. She suggests you go to the Robertson Memorial Legion or call 403-527-7184.
Donner says the air cadets, sea cadets and army cadets will help at tables on weekends.
The Legion’s website says the history and significance of the poppy goes all the way back to the Napoleonic Wars. Poppies grew in abundance over the graves of soldiers in the area of Flanders, France.
The 13-line poem “In Flanders Fields” by Lt.-Col. John McCrae, of Guelph, Ont. – a medial officer during the First World War – had a major impact in Canada’s usage of the poppy.
The poem was published in a magazine in 1915 and three years later was the inspiration for an American teacher to make a pledge to always wear a poppy as a sign of remembrance.
The Royal Canadian Legion provides guidelines on the appropriate and respectful way to wear a lapel poppy. It suggests wearing it on the left side – over the heart.
“Poppies may be worn throughout the remembrance period, including in the evening after the Remembrance Day ceremony… Some choose to remove their poppy at the conclusion of the ceremony and place their poppy on the cenotaph or on a wreath as a sign of respect.”
