Cadets prepare 5,000 crochet poppies for Sault Museum wall before Poppy Campaign, Remembrance Day

For the first time in Sault Ste. Marie, a large display of crochet poppies will hang outside a local landmark building as part of Veterans’ Week and Remembrance Day activities.

Cadets from 2310 Royal Canadian Army Cadets, 46 Royal Sovereign Sea Cadets and 155 Borden Gray Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron gathered at the Sault Ste. Marie Armoury Saturday to attach thousands of crochet poppies to netting, the display to be hung on the Sault Ste. Marie Museum’s exterior wall facing Queen St. East.

It will be officially unveiled Friday, Oct. 27 as Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 launches its 2023 Poppy Campaign that same day.

It will be on display throughout Veterans’ Week from Nov. 5 through 11 and on Remembrance Day.

The Sault Ste. Marie Museum announced it would be initiating a local Crochet Poppy Project in the spring and held workshops throughout the summer and early fall, instructing people on how to crochet woolen poppies with the familiar black centre surrounded by red petals.

“We asked the community and they delivered,” said Will Hollingshead, Sault Ste. Marie Museum executive director, speaking to SooToday.

“From all the people who have come into the museum, and usually they tell us how many they’re dropping off, I would say we have close to 5,000 poppies,” said Nicole Curry, museum collections management assistant.

Cadets attached the poppies to a large piece of netting, 100 feet by 100 feet in size, spread out on the Armoury’s main floor on Saturday.

The net of crochet poppies will hang from the museum’s second floor and flow down to the area above the main door.

“I’ve seen these projects for the past couple of years and I’ve also seen them in other countries. I saw one in England that was draped over the wall of a church. It was lit up at night. It was spectacular,” said Pierre Breckenridge, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 president and Poppy Campaign chair.

The museum received a grant of $2,000 from Veterans Affairs Canada for wool and netting.

“We’re cooperating with the Sault Ste. Marie Museum on the Crochet Poppy Project. The museum initiated it, they were approved for a grant and they reached out to organizations in the community and obviously the Royal Canadian Legion was one of the main ones,” Breckenridge said.

“We support the idea 100 per cent. It’s a fantastic idea. These displays remind people of the service and sacrifice of our service personnel, so we were definitely on board right away.”

The museum collected crochet poppies from various organizations and citizens who wanted to participate in the project over the summer and into the early fall.

“My wife and daughter did 400 of them, as well as many, many other people. We had a workshop at the Legion itself. There were a lot of Ladies’ Auxiliary members and Legion members that participated,” Breckenridge said.

“I made one myself with a great deal of time and assistance from my teacher, Christine Gallant, who is a Poppy Campaign volunteer. I thought it was important as the Poppy Campaign chair to do my best.”

“It was not a work of art but it’s going to be on there nonetheless,” Breckenridge laughed.

Many people purchased their own wool and made crochet poppies for the project, including people from other communities such as Kirkland Lake, and even Illinois.

“We’ve had visitors come in and take one of the patterns home, crochet them and send them back. The ones from Illinois were visitors passing through. They loved what Canadians do with poppies on Remembrance Day and they wanted to support the project,” said the museum’s Nicole Curry. 

Hollingshead said the crochet poppy workshops are now done but people can still drop off more crochet poppies at the museum if they wish.

He said the museum will try to attach any extras coming in, stating they would also be used for the display next year.