Philipsburg Legion wreath project goes global
In the middle of November 2015, the town of Bedford called our legion and asked what we were going to do with the wreaths that were still at the cenotaph in Bedford. So we went and collected them, and returned them to the legion. As they dried out on the floor, the executives kicked around ideas as to what to do with them. This is how our wreath project came to be.
The idea being we removed all regular legion decorations, and took nine plain wreaths (one for each class) to Butler Elementary School at the end of September 2016. We talked with each class and explained who the wreaths were for, and why we lay the wreaths. We left the wreaths at the school, but we added a wee incentive — our veterans at the legion would judge the wreaths, pick one, and we would lay that wreath for the Afghanistan veterans at our ceremony in November and...pay for a pizza party to that class to which our vets picked.
The result was outstanding, so much so no one wreath could be picked out over another, so the Philipsburg Legion used all nine wreaths for our ceremonies both in Philipsburg and Bedford. Also we paid for pizza party for the whole school.
Then, a most interesting thing happened. RCMP Officer Marcel Pelletier, who takes part in our ceremonies in Philipsburg, asked if he could have one of the wreaths. When asked why, he explained that he would take part in the ceremonies at Vimy Ridge and lay the wreath at Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium. We said sure, so he picked the Wreath done by Erika Ona Sanborn’s grade two class.
At the beginning on September 2017 Officer Pelletier presented pictures of his trip and of the wreath done by the grade two class. This will hang in the school for all to see.
We will continue with our wreath project, but this year we are going to try and expand to a few more schools both English and French.
Lest we forget.
President RCL Br 82 Philipsburg
While the world situation is front and centre, so too is the plight of an aging population; those who have retired and settled into a routine long waited for. But then, one passes on, leaving the partner alone. Not a welcome situation but one all too familiar. For those who were single, leaving