Daughter of WWII veteran selling ‘door poppies’ to support local Legion

As Remembrance Day approaches, Margot Rockett is working hard to keep up with the demand after her craftsmanship went viral on TikTok.

Rockett makes what she calls “door poppies”, large wreath-like poppies that can be hung on doors, walls and windows.

“It’s a bigger, bolder way to say I remember,” she told Global News.

Rockett’s father served in the Air Force in the Second World War. In the last few years of his life, Rockett said he lived at the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre.

“They took such good care of him and I really wanted to give back to the Poppy Fund and to the Legion,” she said.

During the pandemic, the “door poppy” was born.

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“I just sort of tweaked a flower I made before and I made the door poppy,” Rockett said.

The $10 “door poppy” is officially licensed by the Legion.

“It’s a very rigid, strict policy because it is a trademarked image, and I respect that because they have to protect the poppy,” Rockett said.

All of the proceeds from the poppies go to Rockett’s Legion branch at Coxwell and Gerrard. She said all of the money stays in the community to support local veterans and their families.

That support is appreciated by those at the Legion.

“When Margot approached us a couple years ago, I thought it was pretty amazing and that all her proceeds were going to come to this branch specifically for our poppy campaign, it’s a huge income for us,” Shelley Lyons, vice-president at the Coxwell and Gerrard Legion, told Global News.

She said it’s been “disheartening” to see fewer people wearing poppies around Remembrance Day and hopes that Rockett’s initiative will encourage people to pay their respects.

She said as the First and Second World Wars fade further into history, a “lack of education and just memory knowledge” could be driving factors.

“It always makes me smile when I see someone wearing it,” she added.

For now, Rockett is working all hours to keep up with the demand, but she said she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I think if my dad were here, he’d be really proud,” she said.

– With files from Global News’ Sean O’Shea