Largest handcrafted poppy hangs at 11-feet-wide in Bancroft

Nearly six sleepless nights, more than 40 volunteers and thousands of hours went into piecing together one huge poppy. The materials were reused from last year’s large display on the Bridge in Bancroft.

“Last year, we yarn-bombed the bridge here in Bancroft and we made over 2,000 poppies to do that, so we had the poppies, we were trying to come up with ideas of what to do with them,” said Heather Brough, program co-ordinator with Hospice North Hastings.

The solution they came up with — creating the largest handmade poppy in Canada at 11-feet-wide.

“We are independent ladies, and thankfully the boys came to our rescue with their cherry picker,” said a volunteer, Yvonne Heath.

READ MORE: Bancroft ‘yarn bombers’ knit tribute to Canada’s soldiers

And to the rescue they came.

“It tried to go egg-shape on us the first time when we hung it but within two hours — there as you can see — there’s a poppy,” said Mark Sills from Parks and Recreation at The Town of Bancroft.

Nearly 2,000 of the handmade poppies were used to create the massive display. It will be on display at Vintage on Hastings until Remembrance Day.

The display hits close to home for plenty of the volunteers including Norma Jean Miller whose father served in the Korean War in the ’50s.

READ MORE: Poppy’s meaning not lost on most Canadians

“A lot of my family on the Miller side has served on different areas of the military, so it is good that we are here to celebrate what they’ve given us, our freedom,” said Miller.

“My grandfather served, my brother served and is retired and I have two nephews that are serving so we can’t be on the front lines, we can’t be there in person, but we can show our support and love for them by doing things like this,” said Brough.

Each individual poppy was hand knit or crocheted with donated materials. Each one is a small gesture honouring the supreme sacrifice of so many.

“This community just inspires me so much,” said Heath.