Don't Forget to Wear Your Poppy

Friday, 1 November 2019 at 12:31

The Woodstock Royal Canadian Legion Branch 55 was happy to deliver a poppy box to local MPP Ernie Hardeman's office in Woodstock today.

WOODSTOCK - The Woodstock Royal Canadian Legion Branch 55 was happy to deliver a poppy box to local MPP Ernie Hardeman's office in Woodstock today.

Hardeman passed a private members bill to allow MPP's to have poppy donation boxes at constituency offices in 2014. He is also a Legion member and explains what it means to him when he see's people wearing the poppy.

"It is important, it means we are all together remembering, as the prayer goes at the end of the Remembrance Day services is, Lest We Forget and I think that, unless you have a time once a year to show you remember, you will forget, so I think that is why it is so important. "This is an important time of year to recognize and honour the sacrifices of the brave men and women who have fought, with many making the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we enjoy. We should also remember and thank those who proudly serve our country in the Canadian Armed Forces, today."

Hardeman says he hopes to see everyone wearing a poppy for the next 11 days.

"From now until Remembrance Day, please take a moment to buy a poppy, wear it proudly and on the 11th, take part in a Remembrance service. So many have given their lives protecting our rights and freedoms. Lest we forget."

Rob Gable, 1st Vice President and Poppy Chair of the Woodstock Royal Canadian Legion Branch 55 delivered a poppy donation box to Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman for his Woodstock constituency office. He says the money from this campaign goes to support our veterans.

"All of the money raised by the poppy collection, goes to the veterans. It does not go to the building projects or any other projects, it goes directly to the veterans. We assist them financially if they need it for any medical conditions they may have that they may not be able to fund themselves or they don't get immediate funding from Veterans Affairs to do. We also donate some of the money from the schools in the form of bursaries for students who apply for it."

Gable says the expect to see some of our remaining veterans from the second world war attend the Remembrance Day ceremony in Woodstock on November 11th. The oldest member in the branch right now is 97 years old, his name is Al Badger and fought in World War 2.

The Woodstock Legion currently has 101 members who have fought in various wars including WW2, Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.