While poppy donations have decreased from the pandemic, the history of the campaign celebrates efforts made by Red Deerians in helping local veterans.

By Alessia Proietti

100th anniversary of the poppy

Red Deer’s deep-rooted poppy campaign

Nov 10, 2021 | 12:49 PM

One century ago, a World War I veteran returned home from Europe. For those who did not survive, a poppy became the symbol for their remembrance in July 1921 by the Great War Veterans Association. This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the poppy.

Bev Haines may be considered Red Deer’s “Madame Anna Guérin”. After reading John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”, Guérin, later known as “The Poppy Lady from France”, began distributing the flowers to raise money for the needs of WWI veterans.

“As a young girl here in Red Deer, I used to stand on city corners downtown and sold them when it was 40 below. We used to have competitions to see who could sell the most,” said Haines, now President of Red Deer’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch #35. “They don’t go door to door like we used to at that point too.”

The daughter of a war veteran, her father from Manitoba, was stationed in Red Deer for army training and later met his wife, a Red Deer local.

“It is surprising, even for myself, that the whole Waskasoo area from the corner store to the bottom of the hill to the creek was actually the army facility,” recalls Haines.

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Red Deer’s local poppy campaign normally raises between $90,000 – $100,000 annually, according to Haines. Last year as a result of the pandemic, sales dropped to around $24,000.

“A lot of stores had no room for us; there’s a lot of plexiglas and there’s no place to set up tables for poppies,” said Haines.

While the numbers for this year still aren’t fully known, Haines believes it’s going well, given the circumstances.

The Legion was able to station this year at the Independent Grocer in Clearview Market Square, as well as the local Costco from Nov. 1-10, and the city’s recreational centres. Preparation for the campaign began mid-October, a blitz weekend of pop-up booths followed at the end of month, and donation boxes picked up in the days following Nov. 11.

Proceeds go towards veterans’ community initiatives helping those who’ve reached out to the Legion directly, as well as to the hospice where some veterans are residing.

“Because there’s fewer veterans now for us to directly help, we are sometimes putting money into research to help with prosthetics and PTSD health situations. We still give bursaries to students coming out of grade 12 that have had a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent that served in any of the forces and the RCMP included,” said Haines.

While poppy flowers are rarely found in Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion is celebrating this 100^th anniversary by creating 10 3D virtual Flanders Fields’ poppy replicas titled, The Immortal Poppy, containing the names of 118,000 fallen veteran soldiers on the petals, and each animation dedicated to one particular veteran story.

“The poppy for 100 years has been a symbol of remembrance and that’s what we’re trying to get people to do,” said Haines.