(Kevin Schropfer)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

in memory of the many thousands

Poppy project at St. Luke’s Anglican Church a beautiful tribute

Nov 9, 2022 | 2:36 PM

Countless thousands of souls have been lost in times of war — from WWI and WWII to Korea and Afghanistan — all of which we are behooved to not forget.

The service of those loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice is what was in mind when a local church decided how they wanted to remember.

St. Luke’s Anglican Church has done so with an incredible 9,000 handcrafted poppies, perhaps representative of those souls, and now which drape from the church’s tower at 4929 54 Street in downtown Red Deer.

The project was a large team effort, led in particular by Kathy Cole, Sandra Ballum and Deb Mann.

It started many months ago with the parishioners first gaining permission from the Royal Canadian Legion which owns the poppy trademark. They were inspired, Cole says, by last year’s 100th anniversary of the poppy.

GOV'T: UNION'S DEMANDS ARE, "EXTREME"

AUPE extends rally cry to outside Red Deer Regional Hospital

16h ago

Man arrested twice in 24 hours by Innisfail & Wetaskiwin RCMP

16h ago

June 2023 Incident

Trial date set for man charged in fatal stabbing

16h ago

The actual poppies, knitted and crocheted with red and black yarn, came from all over.

“It is fitting for our church to do this because of our history. We have several memorial plaques and other things that have been donated in memory of various veterans,” says Cole.

“Doing this has brought tears to my eyes because it’s so beautiful and such a nice commemoration for the people who gave their lives for everybody else. Having worked on the altar guild, I’ve seen the pieces donated, and you can’t help but look at them and think about how young they were to give up their life.”

The phrase ‘Lest we forget’ also comes to mind when thinking of the love and care that went into this poppy project.

“This is a reminder for people to learn from the past,” Cole adds.

“We need to remember what others have gone through for us. The history is there in front of us, so we need to thank these people while we can.”

(Supplied/The Ven. Noel Wygiera)

(Supplied/The Ven. Noel Wygiera)