Honouring our Veterans – Station 81 firefighters install the Poppies of Goulbourn display at the Goulbourn Museum

(Firefighters from Station 81 installed the Poppies of Goulbourn display at the Goulbourn Museum on October 29th to commemorate Remembrance Day and our Veterans. L to R: Braeden Mullin, Cheryl Pauls, Brock Thomson and Mark St. John. Brock is holding Raven, the 12-week old CNIB Labrador Retriever mix being trained by Tracey Donaldson. Photos: Stittsville Central)

A vibrant collage of crocheted poppies, the Poppies of Goulbourn art display, was installed on the wall of the Goulbourn Museum on October 29th thanks to the firefighters of Station 81. The poppy display will remain until November 12th. An annual exhibit to commemorate Remembrance Day and our Veterans, the display of poppies first began in 2018. 

The net has grown substantially since that first year, when 807 poppies were created, through community and volunteer collaboration from near and far crafting the poppies each year. Becoming so large in fact, that is why the Museum annually recruits assistance from the firefighters at Ottawa Fire, Station 81 Stittsville, ensuring the net of poppies is safely installed with its full visual effect.

Of the ongoing poppy project, Tracey Donaldson, General Manager of the Goulbourn Museum told Stittsville Central, “Poppies of Goulbourn is extremely important to us at the Museum. The former Goulbourn township is home to the oldest military settlement in the Ottawa area – the Richmond Settlement”.

The art installation was created by community volunteers and is in recognition of the significant military contributions that have been made in the community since the War of 1812. The Museum’s future goals are to continue to seek community participation and create an installation that will be large enough to cover the entire Museum building.

While pausing to remember those who have given their lives while serving in our nation’s armed forces, please visit the Poppies of Goulbourn display for a moment of remembrance and reflection.