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Poppy blanket warms the heart

Fenwick woman crochets 1000 blooms Katharine Jeffs of Fenwick loves to knit. Especially for a good cause.
Katharine Jeffs’ poppy blanket adorns an exterior wall of the Fonthill Legion on Highway 20. DON RICKERS

Fenwick woman crochets 1000 blooms

Katharine Jeffs of Fenwick loves to knit. Especially for a good cause.

She was thinking about donating crocheted poppies to a Remembrance Day project at the Niagara Falls History Museum, which has a large-scale display of knitted and crocheted poppies draped over the exterior of the museum during the month of November. The museum solicited poppies from the public last year, and the response was overwhelming, with some 11,000 poppy donations coming from every province in Canada and across the United States, as well as Denmark and New Zealand.

The well-intentioned Jeffs, prompted by a suggestion from her dad, shifted her focus to Pelham, and got to work for the Fonthill Legion. By the time she was finished, she had hand-crocheted 1000 poppies.

I was amazed by the beautiful poppy display in Niagara Falls last year,” said Jeffs.“It’s been one hundred years since the poppy was adopted as the symbol to honour the sacrifice of men and women during wartime, so I thought a poppy banner for the local legion would be a fitting tribute.”

Jeffs’ parents purchased yarn, which was donated to the Legion for the creation of additional poppies.

The finished blanket now bears 1200 poppies, which according to Branch 613 president Toni McKelvie, will be displayed annually on the Legion building’s exterior wall facing Highway 20.

“I've been crocheting the poppies for a year, and it took me probably three and a half weeks after Thanksgiving to sew them all on the blanket,” said Jeffs.

Her family has also purchased one of the Legion banners that are on display around town this year, in memory of Jeffs’ grandfather, Ken Allison, who fought in Europe in WWII.

 
 


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Don Rickers

About the Author: Don Rickers

A life-long Niagara resident, Don Rickers worked for 35 years in university and private school education. He segued into journalism in his retirement with the Voice of Pelham, and now PelhamToday
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