REGINA — The Royal Canadian Legion has launched the annual Poppy Campaign in Regina, pinning the first symbolic flowers to the lapels of the Lieutenant-Governor Russ Mirasty and the family of a lost soldier from World War I on Oct. 28 in a ceremony at Government House in Regina.
Saskatchewan Command president Keith Andrews presented the first poppies to Lieutenant-Governor Russ Mirasty and Donna Mirasty, before welcoming the family of the late Lance-Corporal Morgan Jones Jenkins, niece Margaret Schaffer and nephew Tom Jenkins, to receive their own pins.
The ceremony served as the official beginning of the annual fundraiser campaign, which is celebrating its centennial this year.
“Since [the adoption of the poppy in 1921], the Legion and it's members have upheld this tradition of remembrance,” said Andrews. “Today, funds are raised during the campaign to provide a variety of wellness and support to veterans and their families.”
Alongside the significance of the campaign’s hundredth year in existence, the ceremony held special weight for the family of Corporal Jenkins, said grand-niece and family spokesperson Michelle Fisher.
Jenkins, a soldier in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was declared missing in action during combat at the Battle of Aras in August of 1918. This was the last family heard of his whereabouts.
Following an investigation by the Department of National Defence, it was discovered this past August that Jenkins was one of the unknown Canadian soldiers interred at the Vimy Memorial in France.
The DND then notified the family of his final resting place, more than 100 years after his passing.
Fisher said that the long-awaited news of Jenkins’ fate provided a special kind of closure for the family. She said although many of his surviving relatives didn’t know him, Jenkins was a missing uncle who wasn’t forgotten.
“Until the day she died, my great-grandmother left the back porch light on, in case he found his way home,” said Fisher, in her address.
She said that being asked to participate in the poppy ceremony was an honour, and that she and her family will celebrate this year’s Remembrance Day with a different kind of weight.
“I cannot express the honour it is to be here today, to receive poppies,” said Fisher. “We will wear them proudly in honour of our Uncle Morgan.”
Poppies will be available to the public to purchase beginning on Oct. 29, at Legions and participating businesses and venues across the province.
