By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The spirit of remembrance is alive and well among residents of Foxboro Green, a seniors community located in Baden.
Recently, residents of the 215-home community installed a project featuring more than 2,000 handknitted or crocheted poppies on the community’s walking bridge ahead of Remembrance Day on Nov. 11. The poppy project, which is fully visible to passersby on Erbs Road, is the first of its kind in Foxboro Green’s 29-year history.
“We had 30 women knitting and crocheting the poppies over the course of the winter,” said Marlaine Henderson, chair of Foxboro Green’s poppy committee. “We started (sewing the poppies to the mesh netting) in April and just finished up two weeks ago, so just under the wire. So that was quite a few people helping. … We were doing four hours a week for 40 weeks.”
While the women did the bulk of the work knitting and crocheting each poppy and then attaching them one by one to the netting, members of a Foxboro Green men’s coffee group stepped in on Oct. 21 to attach the netting with the more-than 2,000 poppies to the footbridge that crosses the pond near the Foxboro Green entrance.
Many hands made light work and by 10:30 a.m., the poppies were proudly displayed across one half of the bridge.
“We saw so many of our communities – some of the townships and Wellesley has one up – so many places already have a blanket of poppies,” Henderson said. “ … We’re always talking about Remembrance Day and how important it is to remember, and so I guess just a couple of us said, ‘We can do one of those, too.’ ”
In accordance with Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Campaign guidelines, the poppies will remain in place on the Foxboro Green footbridge until Nov. 15.
Each of the poppies is unique with different stitching and shades of red that show how much individual care and attention went into this project. While the project was a lot of work, especially for the ladies, they know it can be used and reused for many years to come.
While Henderson says she won’t commit to the same amount of work next year, at least not yet, she likes the idea of having the Foxboro Green community knit 2,000 more poppies to span the remaining half of the footbridge.
“Foxboro Green is a seniors’ community and many of us have veterans in our families, or had veterans in our families, and we just think it’s a good reminder for us of why we have this beautiful spot to live in,” Henderson said. “Gratefulness is a really big part of the Poppy Campaign.”
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