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Annual poppy campaigns set to go

The iconic red flower that symbolizes the sacrifices of men and women in war and peacekeeping missions will pop up across the Foothills over the next two weeks.
Foothills MP John Barlow joins the Royal Canadian Legion Okotoks Branch #291 in pinning poppies on the colour guard during the 2015 poppy campaign launch. This year’s
Foothills MP John Barlow joins the Royal Canadian Legion Okotoks Branch #291 in pinning poppies on the colour guard during the 2015 poppy campaign launch. This year’s ceremonies take place Oct. 27 in Okotoks and Oct. 28 in Turner Valley.

The iconic red flower that symbolizes the sacrifices of men and women in war and peacekeeping missions will pop up across the Foothills over the next two weeks.

Royal Canadian Legion branches in Okotoks and Turner Valley will kick off their annual poppy campaigns this week with official presentations to municipal government representatives before the boxes of poppies will be placed in businesses.

The ceremonies take place Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. in front of the Okotoks municipal building and Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. at the Turner Valley Legion cenotaph. They follow the presentation of the poppy to the Governor General in Ottawa on Oct. 19 and Lieutenant Governor of Alberta in Edmonton on Oct. 27.

“We just want a donation,” said Linda Macaulay, Turner Valley Legion's first vice-president and poppy chairperson. “If it's a nickel, that's fine. The money goes to help our veterans. It's showing your remembrance of our vets.”

The Turner Valley Legion serves about 40 veterans in the region, which includes Longview, Priddis, Millarville, Black Diamond and Turner Valley.

Last year's campaign collected $17,000 in less than two weeks to support veterans and members. The poppies will be in businesses again from Oct. 28 to Nov. 10, Macaulay said.

“Poppies grow everywhere where there is battles overseas,” she said. “It's a symbol of remembrance of our vets and the wars and people who served our country.”

Macaulay, whose father served as a rear gunner in the Second World War, said he suffered from nightmares and was very secretive about his time spent at war.

“Us kids wanted to know things, but he wouldn't answer our questions,” she said. “A lot of veterans leave the experience back there.”

Many veterans who served in the world wars have passed on, but Macaulay said there are still several vets in the Foothills who served in Afghanistan and require the support of their communities.

“If we have a vet who needs assistance, we provide that assistance – temporarily in most cases,” she said, adding the needs range from getting to an appointment in the city to purchasing a wheelchair.

The Okotoks Legion branch held its first poppy campaign last year and collected more than $60,000 in approximately 300 locations in the community, said Maureen Haberstock, chair of the poppy campaign.

“The support overall in Okotoks was outstanding,” she said. “As I was out there canvassing the businesses and manning the locations, almost everyone I talked to, someone in their family had served in the military, whether it was a grandfather or sister or a spouse. We are hoping to do even better this year.”

Haberstock said the donations allow the Okotoks Royal Canadian Legion to support the hundreds of veterans in the area.

“Part of the work we're doing is assisting, whether we are working with a number of veterans locally through our service officer who has experience in managing their needs or the Veterans Affairs system for emergency, financial and every other kind of assistance we can give to some of these folks,” she said.

Haberstock said Canada has more than 300,000 living veterans and that in recent years Legions and Veterans Affairs are noticing different needs for those coming back from recent peacekeeping missions compared to those who served in the world wars.

There has been an improvement in battlefield survival, but Haberstock said the men and women serving often don't know who the enemy is and the wider exposure to civilian casualties and trauma in the genocide has led to a more recognized problems with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Sometimes they don't realize until it's too late that they need help,” she said, adding that often it can take several weeks of wading through paperwork and documentation to get them into the Veterans Affairs programs.

Money collected from the poppy campaigns also goes towards bursaries for school students related to veterans requiring financial assistance, supported cadet units, supplying wreaths and programs for the Remembrance Day services and community initiatives, including changing the name of Centre Street to Veterans Way in Okotoks and putting up a veterans monument along that street, Haberstock said.

“We prioritize emergency funding for our local veterans,” she said. “That's our top priority.”

Remembrance Day services will take place in Black Diamond at Oilfield High School and Okotoks in the Pason Centennial Arena on Nov. 11 beginning at 10:30 a.m.

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