Our Poppy campaign committee has been meeting regularly since the beginning of September to develop our 2021 plans. We also have been working with the Town’s Fire and By-Law Services staff to ensure that our plans are consistent and align with the Town of Pelham’s expectations related to public health measures. We know that in previous years in late October and early November, the citizens of Pelham have pinned a poppy to their lapels and then on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, they have paused for two minutes to honour and remember those who have served and continue to serve our country. For that, our Branch members and especially our veterans say, “thank you.”

This year, the Executive Committee of our Talbot Trail Branch has decided to hold only one Remembrance service. This service will take place on November 11, 2021, beginning at approximately 10:45 am., in Veterans Park on Legion grounds.

The November 11th service will once again have some safeguards built into the program. Some of the measures we have adopted again for this year include the elimination of the March On/March Off parade and the pre-laying of wreaths prior to the commencement of the service.

We invite the residents of Pelham to attend our service and given that it is unlikely that all attendees will be able to effectively social distance, the wearing of face masks is requested. Once again, we are pleased to advise that our service will be live-streamed to allow Pelham residents to participate virtually, courtesy of Niagara College’s students and staff from the Broadcasting- Radio, Television and Film (BRTF) program.

The live stream link is https://livestream.com/accounts/15502389/legion613-2021. Weather permitting, there will be a fly-by during the service. Similar to last year, there will not be a gathering in the Lloyd King Hall after the completion of the service.

Our annual Poppy campaign will take place during the period of October 29th to November 11th inclusive. Members of the planning committee have canvassed businesses and organizations who have accepted Poppy collection boxes in previous years and we are pleased to advise that they have agreed to take the boxes once again. Similar to last year, you will not see active canvassing by our members, veterans and army cadets outside the businesses around the Town.

We are asking the citizens of Pelham for your continuing support of our Poppy campaign which raises funds to sustain a variety of programs and initiatives to assist veterans and their families as well as sponsoring cadet and youth programs and making available bursaries for the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of our veterans. We also make financial donations to entities like Camp Maple Leaf, a not for profit sleepover camp for children of military families, the Niagara Health Foundation and the Juravinski Cancer Centre through our Poppy Fund. More information on the uses of the Poppy Fund can be found at www.on.legion.ca.

If you are inclined to support our campaign in 2021 without accessing the Poppy collection boxes, you can send us a cheque payable to the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 613. We also accept payment at our Branch via cash, credit card or debit card. You can also affect payment by using e-transfer at br613rcl@cogeco.net. Under the “comments” section, please insert “Poppy Fund donation.” Please note the best time to visit the Branch is between the hours of 12:00 pm., to 7:00 pm., each calendar day. Finally, there are two “Poppy tap boxes” available for use during this year’s campaign. They are located in the Meridian Community Centre and Shoppers Drug Mart respectively.

On behalf of all our veterans and members of Branch 613, we thank you in advance for your continuing support of our Poppy campaign. Pelham residents have always responded favourably to community-based initiatives, and we are hoping you will do so again for our 2021 Poppy campaign!

Best regards,
Members of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 613
141 Hwy. 20 E., P.O. Box 42
Fonthill, Ontario L0S 1E0
Phone number: 905-892-6293
Email: br613rcl@cogeco.net

Proud recipient of a 2021 Niagara Region Impact Award!

The Poppy Campaign Committee began meeting in early September to begin the planning process and throughout September, October and early November amendments to our plans were made to conform with the changing landscape related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Town through a letter to the Branch supported our efforts contingent on us working with the Town’s Fire and By-Law Services staff who provided good direction and recommendations throughout the campaign. We thank Fire Chief Lymburner and his staff for their assistance.

On October 30, 2020, campaign volunteers distributed over 135 Poppy collection boxes to businesses throughout the Town while President Toni McKelvie and Comrade and veteran Lou Gaudier presented the first poppies of the campaign to Mayor Junkin and our Corporate Kick-off sponsor, Mr. Dave Chambers of Chambers Insurance.

On November 11^th, we conducted our socially distanced Remembrance Day service with limited attendance in Veterans Park. Many thanks to all service participants and to Niagara College’s staff and students from the Broadcasting-Radio, Television and Film (BRTF) program who livestreamed this year’s event, enabling everyone who elected to log-in to the livestream to participate virtually. The feedback we have received from the community about our service has been very positive.

We made our intentions known about the 2020 Poppy Campaign and Remembrance Service to the community through placement of a public service announcement in the Voice of Pelham. This announcement was included in the October 20^th edition of the Voice. A special mention and thank you to Mr. Dave Burket who sponsored  our announcement

On November 12, 2020, the volunteers who distributed the Poppy collection boxes retrieved them while other volunteers retrieved the wreaths that were placed in Peace Park, Centennial Park, the Ridgeville cenotaph and Veterans Park.

We are projecting Poppy campaign revenues in excess of $20,000, a fundraising total that exceeds our 2019 revenue by approximately 22.5%. Donations (including monies generated from the selling of Legion masks) continue to trickle in. This is a remarkable achievement given that no canvassing by our members or cadets occurred this year and some businesses were unable to accept Poppy collection boxes due to company guidelines related to the pandemic.

In closing, we would like to acknowledge and thank all the Poppy Campaign committee members and the other volunteers who gave their time to ensure that our mandate of “honouring our Veterans is our duty” continued during a very challenging time. We also thank the citizens, businesses and organizations of Pelham for responding in the manner they did in supporting both the Poppy Campaign and our Remembrance service. THANK YOU PELHAM!

With gratitude,

Branch 613 Executive