Thousands of hand-made poppies on display at Stratford, Ont.’s cenotaph

A display in Stratford, Ont. is serving as an important reminder to never forget people who have fought for our freedoms. CTV’s Jeff Pickel reports.

The cenotaph in Stratford, Ont. was surrounded by thousands of flowers for Remembrance Day.

“This is the third year of our Poppy Project,” said organizer Patty Hawkins-Russell. “It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

There are now over 30,000 poppies on display and each one was handmade by volunteers in Stratford and St. Marys.

“Whether you made two poppies or 1,000 poppies, it didn’t matter,” explained Hawkins-Russell. “Every poppy counted. And yeah, the community gets behind it more and more every year.”

This year, 11,700 poppies were collected. Many of them can be found hanging from the Waterloo Street bridge.

Last year the installation expanded to include a large cedar shrub near the cenotaph. This year, the symbols of remembrance covered even more of the hedge and an additional barrier on Ontario Street was also decorated.

“In total, we have 33,500 poppies in our installations,” Hawkins-Russell said.

The goal of the Poppy Project is to honour the Canadians who served and sacrificed for their country.

“When you walk across the bridge and when you see the poppies, it brings both smiles and tears,” said Grace Hedwig-Untucht.

It also makes the Remembrance Day ceremony a true community celebration.

“It reassures everyone, and reassures the veterans that are still here, that what they did isn’t going to be forgotten anytime soon,” explained Rick Boon, chair for Stratford’s Remembrance Day ceremony.

The City of Stratford also added a veterans’ crosswalk on York Street.

“I think remembrance really needs to be every day of the year,” Loreena McKennitt, a former honorary colonel with the Royal Canadian Air Force, said of the project.

Neighbouring communities have also been inspired by the Poppy Project.

“I’ve had people reach out to me from British Columbia and New Brunswick asking how we went about it,” Hawkins-Russell said.

In St. Marys, a quilt of crocheted flowers was draped over the Queen Street bridge for Remembrance Day.

“I’ve had people reach out to me from British Columbia and New Brunswick just asking how we went about it, so it’s definitely spreading,” Hawkins-Russell said.

Some volunteers say they have already started making more poppies for next year to help the installations grow.