(From left) 4 Wing Chief Warrant Officer Dipen Mistry, Acting Wing Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Fredric Dubeau, Cold Lake Legion Branch 211 President Todd Rorke, and City of Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland stand inside City Hall on October 25th – Photo by Mike Marshall / The Courier News
The first of the Royal Canadian Legion Poppies in Cold Lake were pinned on the uniform of a pair of 4 Wing members last week.
On October 25th, Cold Lake Legion President Todd Rorke presented the poppies to 4 Wing Chief Warrant Officer Dipen Mistry, acting Wing Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Fredric Dubeau, and Mayor of the City of Cold Lake Craig Copeland in a small ceremony inside City Hall. The ceremony marked the start of the poppy campaign for the Legion, which began on Friday, October 27th.
“This year we put out 274 trays of poppies around the community,” explains Rorke. “The money that is collected stays within the branch’s community. It is used to help veterans and their families with such things as medical assistance, food, and anything else they may need. Funds can also be used to award bursaries to kids going on to university. We can also donate to community groups such as minor hockey, cadets and others.”
The history of the poppy as a visual sign of remembrance comes from the 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields”, written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. The first poppies worn by the public came around 1921.
2023 will mark 105 years since the end of the First World War and 78 years since the end of the Second World War.
