A Community comes together to Reflect and Remember

This year, people across the world will come together to commemorate the Centenary of Armistice Day today. Communities around Australia are commemorating this Centenary in many different ways.  Additional to the traditional Remembrance day services held at the cenotaphs there are a variety of events and activities organised to commemorate the Centenary.

The Poppy Project Video

The Flanders Poppy has become a significant symbol in the commemorations. The Flanders Poppy signifies the Bravery and Resilience of the soldiers who fought in the First World War and all conflicts following. The Flanders Poppy was the only flower that grew on the battlefields at the end of the war.

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra will have a Field of Poppies, comprising of 62,000 poppies representing the 62,000 Australian Soldiers who lost their lives in World War One.

In the Grenfell community Jenny Herrington approached the local Garden Club to plant poppies around the shire in gardens to commemorate the Centenary of Armistice Day. The President Chris Lobb and members of the Garden Club supported the idea and decided to make it a Community project. Residents, school students and business owners were all invited to be involved with the Poppy Project developed under the coordination of the Garden Club.

Members of the community were asked to knit, crochet and sew poppies to install around the town. In total, over 4000 poppies were made.  The Garden Club provided seeds and seedlings to members of the community to plant in their gardens and the Garden Club also planted seedlings in the Shire gardens along the main street. 

An art competition and exhibition was held in the Grenfell Art Gallery, featuring military memorabilia and poppy focused artworks. Stories and histories of local residents who went to war were dispersed among the artwork. Over 150 people attended the opening night which was launched by Ian McNamara from the ABC radio show “Australia All Over”,

Buildings along Grenfell’s Main Street were also decorated with poppies, posters and art works from the local school students.

The town is a Field of Poppies and the exhibition will run at the Art Gallery until the 25th November.  This little country town has commemorated the Centenary of Armistice with a community project that has bought the whole community together in a time of reflection, remembrance and commemoration.