Before Singleton Mayor, John Martin, officially unveiled the community project, ‘Remembering our Anzacs’ at the Singleton Military Museum on Monday morning, an emotional Adrienne Jackson thanked everyone who helped make her vision become a reality.
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In front of the large and varied crowd that had crammed into the walkway leading to the first floor of the museum she expressed her heartfelt gratitude to all those involved, especially the ladies who created over 1600 hand- made poppies.
“I would like to thank the poppy creators, who knitted, crocheted and made poppies out of felt, fabric and sometimes paper,” Mrs Jackson said.
“I thought I had recruited about 20 creative ladies but there turned out to be about 40 quietly working away at home and suddenly producing large numbers of poppies.”
“We aimed for 1142 poppies, in memory of the serviceman who enlisted from the Singleton area in the Great War but we received more than 1600.”
However, 135 of these are black to honour the men who lost their lives, she explained.
Mrs Jackson has been the driving force behind the project and was inspired after learning about the 5000 poppies project.
An exciting and ambitious campaign which aims to “plant” a massive field of handmade poppies in Federation Square, Melbourne on Anzac Day as a stunning visual tribute to Australian servicemen and women for more than a century of service in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
And in 2105 it will be just be one of the many ways the Australian public will commemorate 100 years since the Anzac Gallipoli landing.
However, the Singleton version is a striking series of banners that have the knitted, crocheted or felted poppies lovingly placed on them.
Varying shades of red, differing textures and a sprinkle of black combine to create a bold reminder of the sacrifice these courageous men made.
“The banners were designed, created and covered with poppies by Mrs Susan Ginns and what a mammoth effort that has been,” Mrs Jackson said.
She then called on the Mayor to open the display and he spoke briefly about why the poppy has become a sign of remembrance.
Along with the invited guests, a group of well-behaved Singleton Public School Year one students listened intently.
The official ceremony was followed by a delightful morning tea and an excited Mrs Jackson said the end result has exceeded her expectations.