For those who went to the Miss Trail 2018 pageant earlier this year, you may recall Miss Trail Robyn Chadwick’s award-winning speech wherein she talked about how proud she was of her father’s military service to the country. So it was very befitting for Robyn to pin the first poppy on her father, Bob Chadwick, at the Trail Cenotaph on a sunny Wednesday morning.
“This is a special moment for me because we’ve always been a military-oriented family,” Robyn said. “To pin the first poppy on my dad really means a lot.”
Bob Chadwick served in Bosnia in 2003, and is now a retired combat engineer from the Canadian Forces Army Reserve.
The first poppy marks the launch of the local campaign. Veterans, cadets and volunteers will be distributing lapel pins beginning next Friday (Nov. 1) in downtown Trail, Walmart, Canadian Tire, Waneta Mall and Main Street, Fruitvale.
Funds raised through the annual campaign provide comfort for veterans and seniors in regional care facilities, and a portion is donated to the provincial and national campaigns such as the Veteran’s Transitions program and the Commonwealth Ex-Servicemen League.
Earlier this year, the Trail Legion Branch 11 donated $10,000 toward to the Emergency Department Campaign at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. The money will be used to fund a Fast Track Recliner Pod in the new wing.
Legion donations have also helped with emergency care services for local veterans and other local charities such as Skool Aid. As well, the money raised is given in bursaries for grandchildren of local veterans.
An estimated 18 million poppies will be worn this year, and by making a donation and wearing a poppy, Canadians continue to honour the many lives lost during war.
