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Page Y, News, Tuesday, November 6, ee TAKE-TIME TO Legion has special duty There are a number of veter- ans' organizations in Canada, the largest of which is The Royal Canadian Legion with some 600,000 members. Prior to World War I, the armed services in Canada were represented by regimental associ- ations, scattered units of various types and one national organiza- tion, The Army and Navy Veterans of Canada. Under complicated, often diffi- cult conditions, some 15 disparate national veterans' groups sprang up up between 1917 and 1925. They had no united voice and their various efforts produced no' national results. Finally, - in <.1925,- The Dominion Veterans Alliance came into being, due largely to the influence of Field Marshal Earl Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Army. His dedication, along with that of General Sir Richard Turner bore fruit and The Legion was born. By July, 1926 it was self- supporting. From its earliest beginnings The Legion concerned itself, pri- marily, with the fight to secure adequate pensions and other bene- fits for veterans and their depen- dents. : The Royal Canadian Legion has assumed the responsibility for perpetuating the tradition of Remembrance in Canada. It organizes and runs the Poppy Campaign and conducts Remembrance Ceremonies on November 11, across the country. The largest of these is the National Remembrance Ceremonies held at the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa. The campaign serves to remind Canadians of the tremendous debt owed to those who gave their lives for peace and freedom as well as raise money for needy vet- erans and ex-service members. There will be a service at the Schreiber Cenotaph on Sunday, Nov. 11, Remembrance 'Day, at 1la.m.. In Terrace Bay the service will held on Saturday, Nov.10. at the Cenotaph. The Terrace Bay Legion's Women's Auxiliary will hold a Poppy Tea Saturday, 1 --4 p.m. The Poppy Symbol of Remembrance A connection between the poppy, an international symbol of remembrance, and battlefield deaths was made as long ago as the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century. At that time a writer remarked that fields, barren before battle, exploded with blood-red flowers after the fighting had ended. Lt.-Col. John McCrae, the Canadian doctor who wrote the poem In Flanders Fields, made the same connection during the battle of Ypres, April 22, 1915, 100 years later during the First World War. Prior to that war few poppies grew in Flanders. During the tremendous bombardments the chalk soils became rich in lime from the rubble, allowing popaver rhoes, poppies, to thrive. When the war ended the lime was quickly absorbed and the poppy began to disappear. McCrea's poem caught the heart of people the world over and the scarlet poppy quickly became the symbol for soldiers who died in battle. Three years after McCrae wrote his poem, an American women, Moina Michael, was working in New York City can- teen when she started wearing a poppy in memory of the millions who died on the battlefield. During a 1920 visit to the United States a French women, Madam Guerin, learned of the custom. On her return to France she decided to use handmade poppies to raise money for destitute chil- dren in war torn areas of the coun- try. In November 1921, the first poppies were distributed in Canada. Canadians who wear the little red flower every year ensure that the 114,000 men who died in bat- tle will never be forgotten. _ Lt. Col. John McCrae John McCrae was a tall boyish 43 year old member of the Canadian Medical Corps from Guelph, Ont. An artillery veteran of the Boer War, he had the eye of a gunner, the hand of a surgeon and the soul .of a poet when he went into Ypres on April 22, 1915. That was the the afternoon the enemy first used poison gas. The first attack failed. So did the next and the next. For 17 days and nights the allies repulsed wave after wave of attackers. During this period, McCrae wrote: "One can see the dead lying there on the front field. And in places where the enemy threw in ann attack, they lie veery thick on the slopes of the German trenches." Working from a dressing sta- tion on the bank of the Yser Canal, Lt.-Col. McCrae 'dressed hundreds of wounded, never tak- ing off his clothes for the-entire 17 days. Sometimes the dead or wound- ed actually rolled down the bank from above into his dugout. Sometimes, while awaiting the ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION Branch 109 Schreiber, Ontario REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE to be held on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH (all participants laying wreaths are asked to be in the Clubroom by 10:30 a.m.) Parade to the Cenotaph will take place at 10:50 am. Ceremony to commence at 11:00 am arrival of batches of wounded, he would watch the men at work in the burial plots which were quick- ly filling up. Then McCrea and his unit were relieved. "We are weary in body and wearier in mind. The general impression in my mind is one of a nightmare," he wrote home. But McCrae came out of Ypres with 13 lines scrawled on aa scrap of paper. The lines were a poem which started: "In FLanders fields the poppies blow..." These lines which are enshrined in the hearts of all sol- diers who heard in them their innermost thoughts. McCrae was their voice. The poem circulated as a folk song circulates, by word of mouth. Men learned it with their hearts. The Royal Canadian Legion Terrace Bay Branch 223 Remembrance Day Service Cenotaph, Terrace Bay 11:00 a.m. Saturday November 10, 1990 Formation will be at the Curling Club Parking Lot at 10:45 a.m. Plan to Attend! happy times. the school. Lake Superior High School Theatre class production remembers the dark days Students of the Lake Superior High School will present a pro- gram to remember those Canadians who lost their lives in service to their country during two world wars and the Korean conflict. One Thousand Cranes , by.Colin Thomas, is a Canadian play about peace that combines two touching stories. The first one is about a Japanese girl, played by Leah Mifflin, who died of radiation induced leukemia. The second story concerns a young boy named Buddy, played by Jason Iddison, a Canadian boy with great fears about the pre- sent day threat of nuclear holocaust. One Thousand Cranes represents long life, good luck and A Japanese legend says that if you fold one thousand cranes the gods will give you long life, like a crane. The play will be presented at the Lake Superior High School in Schreiber, Friday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. by the music theatre class of It is directed by music teacher Howard Alexander. As part of the same program the grade 10 history students will read letters and poems of soldiers who served in the wars. There will also be an exhibition of Canadian war art sponsored by the Schreiber Legion Branch 109. Admission to this event is free. Leah Mifflin holds a paper crane, symbol of long life Legion Terrace Bay Branch 223 Remembrance Day Dinner and Dance Saturday November 10th Cocktails.....:......6:00 pm Dinner................7:00 pm Dance..9:00 pm - 1:00 am Live Band-----"The Diplomats" Tickets - $40.00/couple $20.00 single (available at the Legion) Deadline for tickets: Wednesday, Nov. 7th NOTE: A bus will be provided to and from the Legion. Pickup will be a 5:30 p.m. following the former mill routes. --s will be at 1:30 a.m. Departure from the at Se