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It’s poppy time again

October 27, 2017   ·   0 Comments

THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION’S 2017 poppy campaign starts tomorrow (Friday), renewing an annual event that started nearly 100 years ago when a group of British ladies  saw a lot of First World War veterans on the streets with no place to live.

The tradition quickly came to Canada, and today you’ll find poppies in local stores as well as being offered by local Legion members.

Why poppies? One need only consider the impact of In Flanders Fields, the poem penned by Major John McCrae in May, 1915, which begins: “In Flanders fields the poppies grow, 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.”

Unlike some fundraising campaigns, this one has relatively little overhead and will see nearly all the donations going to veterans’ services.

All the more reason to pick up a poppy for every member of the family and proudly wear it until Remembrance Day 2017.

“Lest we forget.”

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