Seventy-eight-year-old Russell Hudson has volunteered with the Canadian Legion Branch No. 37 for a decade.
Starting on Oct. 21, he’s been busy helping at the Legion's new poppy campaign office on the corner of Beacon Avenue and Resthaven Drive in Sidney.
“I’m just getting all the trays ready for all the team captains, so when they come in, they just pick them up and off they go to their stations and start delivering the poppies to the different areas in town this Friday,” he told Peninsula News Review on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Hudson was in the Air Force for 29 years, something he chose to be a part of coming from a long line of military family. His father, grandfather and two uncles all served in the military.
“Best part of my life serving our nation and very proud to be a part of the poppy campaign because that's such a critical component of what we are all about and what we do,” he shared.
Hudson sees the poppy flower as a symbol of freedom for his family and for all the veterans, both those who died and those still with us, who gave their all.
Laine Bennett has also volunteered in the Legion in the last five years. He heads the poppy campaign this year overseeing the preparations leading up to Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.
He presented Cliff McNeil-Smith, mayor of Sidney, with a poppy on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 10:30 a.m. Mc-Neil Smith says supporting the poppy campaign "supports our veterans and families and is an expression of our gratitude for the service and sacrifices by members of our armed services, past and present”.
Members of the Royal Canadian Legion presented Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin with the first poppy at Government House in Victoria early Tuesday morning.
“I was deeply honoured today to receive the first poppy in B.C. from Craig Thomson, B.C./Yukon Command of the Royal Canadian Legion president, kicking off the annual poppy campaign. The poppy is a cherished symbol of reflection and remembrance.”
On Friday, Oct. 25, Bennett and Hudson will join the rest of Legion volunteers in welcoming the public when the doors to the poppy campaign office open at 10 a.m. at 2328 Beacon Ave. in Sidney.
Learn more about the campaign and the work of the Legion at https://www.legion.ca/remembrance/the-poppy-campaign.
