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New poppy crosswalk gets unanimous support from local veterans

'This is a great thing and isn’t disrespectful at all. It helps put the light on Remembrance Day,' says Barrie legion official

Members of Barrie's Royal Canadian Legion branch were downtown Tuesday afternoon to take a look at the new poppy artwork that adorns the crosswalk across from the cenotaph at Memorial Square.

The Remembrance Day memorial is located at the base of Owen Street and directly faces the city's cenotaph. 

The City of Barrie installed new artwork of three poppies that are 24 inches in size. With their thermoplastic application, the poppies are expected to last approximately seven years.

Barrie legion vice-president Fern Taillefer said he had heard about another city that had done the poppy crosswalk and it wasn’t well received, with some people thinking it would be disrespectful to veterans.

“We had heard about this possibly happening and I thought, 'we’ll bring this to a vote and see how our members feel about it',” he said. “We had our veterans' dinner last Thursday with about 80 people and we asked them all. Not one person was against it.

"This is a great thing and isn’t disrespectful at all. It helps put the light on Remembrance Day," Taillefer added.

Taillefer says the poppies will be there year-round and when they need touching up, “the city will take care of that.”

For the second consecutive year, there will not be an organized public gathering at the downtown cenotaph due to COVID-19 concerns for veterans. 

The local legion will be hosting a private ceremony starting at 10:45 a.m. on Nov. 11 and the public is invited to watch virtually. 

The public can tune in to Rogers Channel 10 or visit the city’s Remembrance Day webpage for links.