CELEBRATING
November 2020
OVER
COMMUNITY NEWS
RenfrewCollingwoodCommunityNews.com
Remembering not to forget Remembrance Day during a pandemic by Paul Reid
Above: This Remembrance Day, Canadians will have the option of picking up a poppy and donating to the Royal Canadian Legion through a new tap-enabled donation box created in partnership by the Legion and HSBC Bank Canada as a health safety measure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like so many other businesses and organizations affected by COVID-19, GrandviewCollingwood Branch 179 of the Royal Canadian Legion has been no exception. With reduced hours (noon to 10 pm every day) and a maximum of 50 members allowed, the branch has been following all of the rules closely. Members must sign in and remain physical distanced. The branch has also hired extra staff whose primary duty is to wipe down chairs and tables between every visitor. For the first time in our history, Remembrance Day ceremonies will be limited to a small ceremony and the laying of wreaths around the cenotaphs. There will be no parades, however — no crowds of thousands and no big after-parties back at Legion branches, save for maybe the lucky 50. The most we can really do this year is to take time at 11 am on November. 11 to silently contemplate the sacrifices that have been made to keep us free.
Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 179’s Poppy Campaign Chairman for 2020: Larry Carlson. He is sporting one of the Legion’s non-medical masks that you can purchase to help support veterans. Visit: poppystore.ca.
Mr. Lawrence is retiring
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Dessert making at the Italian Cultural Centre Page 6
I met with Larry Carlson – Poppy Campaign chairperson for Branch 179. This is perhaps his easiest year, since there is less that can be done, but also his most frustrating. He just found out about the new ruling that poppy taggers must stand six feet away from their poppy donation boxes. Fearing that this may be conducive to theft, the committee has decided to forego having taggers this year.“It’s just asking for trouble to put a box of money on the sidewalk with no one standing directly beside it.” So, when you do go looking for a poppy this year look for them in the businesses in our community. You may also run into one of the 250 new tap-enabled donation boxes that have been set up across Canada.