Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 19, Number 10, DeMotte, Jasper County, 4 February 1949 — WAR VETERANS MAKING MEMORIAL POPPIES [ARTICLE]

WAR VETERANS MAKING MEMORIAL POPPIES

Thousands of disabled veterans of both World Wars are now being given employment by the American Legion Auxiliary making memorial poppies to be worn in honor of the war dead on Poppy Day next May, Mrs. Harry Bierma, Poppy Chairman of the local Auxiliary Unit, has announced. The veterans are at work on the poppies in hospitals and convalescent ‘’Workshops in all parts of the country, finding in the work occupation for minds and hands during the long hours of illness and recovery, Mrs. Bierma explained. The work is given to those most in need of the earnings and those who will benefit most by the activity. More than 10,000 will be employed during the winter and spring months, she estimated. Made of crepe paper with stems of paper-wrapped wire, the poppies are replicas of the wild poppies which grow on the battle field and war cemeteries in Europe. Shaped carefully by hand, each poppy is different, each reflecting the skill of its maker. Poppies which the local Unit of the Auxiliary will distribute here on Poppy Day are being made at Marion Veterans- Hospital under the direction of the Indiana Department of the Auxiliary.