Tillsonburg Retirement Residence honours veterans with Poppy Project
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Tony DeBlock and Don Drinkwater, first-year residents at Tillsonburg Retirement Residence, were impressed by the annual Poppy Project.
Each year, Tillsonburg Retirement Residence on Rolph Street partners with local schools, daycares, the local Beavers, along with its own residents, family and staff to create paper poppies, each with a message for a veteran on the back.
About 600 poppies were displayed in front of Tillsonburg Retirement Residence on Nov. 11.
‘Dear Veteran, Thank you for your Service for our Country. Remembrance Day is special just like you.’
‘Thanks for fighting for our country.’
‘We remember.’
‘Thank you for saving us. Thank you for your courage.’
‘Thank you for your time, service and sacrifice for our freedom. Have a great day.’
DeBlock, 91, and Drinkwater, 96, stepped outside early on Nov. 11 to view the poppies up close.
“We were the first Dutch family to arrive in Delhi after the war – father, mother and three kids – in 1947,” said DeBlock, who was 14 when the Second World War ended.
“I was a naval veteran in the Canadian navy,” said Drinkwater.
“And you were always connected with the Legion,” DeBlock noted.
“Oh yes, some 70-odd years, and every position in the Legion – Delhi 125,” Drinkwater nodded.
“We go back a long ways,” DeBlock laughed.
A Remembrance Service, which included the reading of a poem by managers, was held at the residence on the 11th.
“After we take them down, we give them to the Legion for the veterans to read,” said Jodi Nesbitt, Health and Wellness Manager.
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