ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) raised the flag to signal the beginning of the RCL’s annual poppy campaign on Oct. 28.
Every year, RCL branches in local communities across the nation conducts the Poppy Campaign to raise funds “to support Veterans and their families within their community,” according to the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) website.
As well as to help ensure Canadians “never forget.”
The Poppy Campaign will last until Remembrance Day on Nov. 11, honouring and remembering Canada’s fallen soldiers, according to Duane Fleming, first vice president of St. Paul RCL.
Guy Pomerleau, chairperson of the St. Paul RCL’s Poppy Campaign, said the Royal Legion members had already started visiting businesses in the Town delivering poppies and wreaths.
Similarly, information from the RCL state that “thousands of Legionnaires” throughout Canada volunteer to distribute poppies to their communities leading up Remembrance Day.
In the Town of St. Paul, Mayor Maureen Miller was also present during the flag raising ceremony. She said the raising of the poppy flag is an important symbol to “start the campaign” and bring awareness to members of the community.
“We really need to acknowledge those that have gone before us, and that there is war around us,” said Miller. “The freedom we have today is because of those who passed on to brave that path [of freedom] for us.”
She added, “It’s definitely a time to stop, a time to remember, and a time to give gratitude.” Miller also urged the community to join the St. Paul RCL’s ceremony on Remembrance Day at the Recreation Centre.
According Ken Brodziak, St. Paul RCL’s Remembrance Day chairperson, the doors of the Recreation Centre will open at 10 a.m., and “we will have local musicians on the stage playing songs and instruments.” The program will also include a video presentation of the veterans in the St. Paul region.
“Then, the official ceremonies [for Remembrance Day] will begin around 10:30 a.m.,” said Brodziak. He added that at 12:30 p.m., lunch and doughnuts will be served.
A “very special” guest speaker will also attend virtually, according to Brodziak.
Brodziak concluded by saying that Remembrance Day is not a day to promote conflicts, but a day that involves remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice, those who have served, and those who currently serve the Canadian Armed Forces.
