It was a blustery and cold day to mount an outdoor art installation, but members of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum’s Art Brigade say the cause is worth it.
Thousands of poppies have been knitted, crocheted and crafted by a brigade of volunteers, working hundreds of hours, to create stunning visual displays of poppies to complement the Royal Canadian Legion’s annual poppy campaign.
The museum’s poppy display is in its fourth year, said poppy brigade organizer Barbara Worthy. For the first time, a massive poppy net will be displayed in front of RiverBrink Art Museum in Queenston.
In a parkette across the street from RiverBrink, a cenotaph featuring a statue of a young First World War soldier stands atop a granite shaft. The memorial is dedicated to those who fought in the World Wars and Korea. The names of those who died in the conflicts, and the names of the major battles they fought in during WW1, are etched into the stone.
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124 holds a Remembrance Day service at the Queenston cenotaph every year, beginning at 1 p.m., in front of Riverebrink.
The poppy display has already been installed in front of the Royal Canadian Legion hall on King Street.
“We now have more than 7,000 poppies, attached to 18 nets, each 14 feet long, and more than 70 poppy wreaths,” said Worthy. “The actual work of attaching these poppies is quite physically demanding, but no one ever complains because the results are so worthwhile.”
Sue Henry has volunteered for the poppy project for all four years. This year, she said, they will be able to store the poppy nets in the NOTL Museum’s newly acquired Janet Carnochan house. To store the poppy nets, “we lay them flat on cotton sheets to dry for four days,” said Henry. “Then we wrap them in more cotton sheets to store them.”
Henry became involved with the poppy project because she her father, grandfather, brother, uncle and great uncle have served in the military and Henry herself grew up on airforce bases.
First year volunteer Dayna Zeliznak moved to NOTL three years ago and joined the brigade to get involved with the women in her community. “It’s a great cause,” she added.
Installations at the last two sites, the Court House on Queen Street and the NOTL Museum on Caslereigh Street, have been postponed until Monday, Nov. 4 due to high winds. These two installations are very large and require the expertise of local arborists, Davey Tree Expert Company of Canada Ltd, who volunteer their time, with their staff in an up-pup on site to raise the poppies to the top of the buildings.
The Poppy Project will be on display until Nov. 12
