Today marks two weeks until Remembrance Day, meaning it’s time to get your poppy. The red poppies and their accompanying donation boxes will be set up at roughly 500 businesses around the Grande Prairie region, with 70,000 available this year. Legion manager and veteran Moe Morgan says they are meant to be worn over your heart or on your hat.
“You’ve got to wear the poppy exactly as you pick it up out of the tray. You can not deface the poppy by sticking a pin or something in the centre of it; you just wear it the way it is.”
The poppies are worn in honour of those who died in World War I and those have died in the line of duty since then. The funds raised by donations go to support local veterans and their dependents, but over the past couple of years, the province has seen a rise in poppy box thefts. Morgan says if someone makes off with a box, they won’t get more than a few coins.
“The people who place them go daily to check on them. If there’s any coins in them, they take the coins back to the legion and put new boxes out. We started the year with high hopes that we won’t lose any, but it happens.”
Once again, the legion will be hosting a Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11th at Revolution Place. People and businesses still have time to purchase a wreath to be laid.