Stouffville community rallies to knit 5,600 poppy display at clock tower for Remembrance Day

Stouffville resident Susan Tucker organized the poppy project starting in November of last year

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 9, 2022
Simon Martin

Remembrance Day is very important to Stouffville resident Susan Tucker. Back in 1990, her brother Hollis Tucker tragically died after his CF-18 mysteriously crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Every year on Nov. 11, Tucker can be found at the local Remembrance Day service mourning those who died for the country, including her brother.

But she has noticed a difference lately. “When I go to the ceremony at the cenotaph. There are fewer people,” she said. “It’s bothersome to me that there is fewer and fewer people attending the service. We can’t let people forgot what happened during the two world wars.

So in that spirit Tucker decided to do something after Remembrance Day, last year. She saw large poppy displays in places like Uxbridge and Niagara-On-the-Lake and thought something similar could be done in Stouffville. Tucker purchased some handknit poppies from Stouffville resident Pauline Tam last year and Tam sent her the pattern with instructions.  Tucker sent the pattern with instructions to volunteers wanting to help last November. The response was overwhelming.

“It’s been amazing. We have got over 5,600 poppies,” she said.

The poppies were tied to netting and installed on the clock tower on Nov. 1, accompanied by a framed "In Flanders Field" poem and a bucket of poppies that people can tie onto the netting if they choose.

Some of the dozens of volunteers who contributed to the project were at the clock tower Nov. 1 to see the final product.

Saanvi Tonse might have been the youngest knitter on the project. The Grade 9 student at Stouffville District Secondary School started knitting poppies through the Loops program. “My mom and I started working on these poppies,” she said. “It was really nice to know that you’re contributing to the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville and feeling proud that your work is up there."

Tonse said she was able to learn a new way of knitting as she had never crocheted before.

Tam thought it would be a nice display but she was floored with the result. “I just didn’t imagine that it would look this great,” she said. “There’s so many and there is a lot more that can put on here.”

It’s fun to see the community come together and do something like,  Tam added. “I think people forget,” she said.

Luciana Fraccaro got involved through the Loops program and did 197 poppies for the project. She said each poppy took about 12 minutes. That’s about 40 hours of knitting poppies. “I took a ball of red yarn that I had and a ball of black yaran and said when this is done it's done,” she said. “It was important for me because I had relatives fighting in the war and I wanted to make sure that their memory lived on.”

Tucker said the project would not have been possible without great help from town staff who helped put up the display and the dozens of volunteers knitting throughout the year. There were 78 people on the email list associated with the project, Tucker said. “The poppies just coming and it kept going,” she said.

The display will be up on the clock tower until after Remembrance Day. Tucker said the 5,500-plus poppies will be dried out and used again next year. “We will add on to it,” she said.

Tucker encouraged residents to come tie a poppy on the netting to pay their respects.

The Stouffville Legion will be hosting a Remembrance Day Ceremony starting at 10:55 Nov. 11.