This is our 8th year honoring Memorial Day with our recreation of Flanders Field at Eli Whitney. It is hard to believe that this year's amazing garden started in 2011 with just over 500 poppies and a paper chain to guard them. That first year, we hung American flags in the classroom windows.
It all began with an idea that Mrs. Wilcoxson had...a wonderful idea...and together, we made it a reality. Her next idea is to get out tribute garden national attention, so if any of you have some connections...we need your help next year making this next part of her dream come true!
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The poem In Flanders Fields has always been a part of our display. We wanted to make sure the students and the community knew all about the poem, the author, and how the tradition of the poppies came about.
In 2012, we doubled the number of poppies and instead of a paper chain, the student council purchased flags to guard the poppies.
In 2013, the Student Council ran a fundraiser to purchase flags and bunting for the upstairs windows. The flags have weathered many years, but the bunting survived for only two Veteran's Days and one Memorial Day.
In 2014, the poppies continue to fill in both sides of the sidewalk.
2015
2016
In 2017, I was retired and found myself with more time to devote to the project. I replaced cardboard Flanders Fields poem with one written on plywood that can withstand the rain and wind. I also added the Moina Michael's We Shall Keep the Faith reply to the poem. Student Council also used the last of its monies to purchase new flags for the field so they would be all uniform.
It was also the first year I was in-charge of getting volunteers to help out with this huge undertaking. Thank goodness for Facebook and all the various Stratford pages. By posting a plea for help on as many pages as possible, we had a record number of volunteers and were able to get all the flags and older poppies planted by 12:30.
2018 brought even more volunteers than last year, which I didn't think was possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the parents, former parents, Eli Whitney alumni, police, fire fighters, Veterans, American Legion members, my husband, home school families, community members, and our honorable Mayor for coming out in full force to help us put up our annual Memorial Day display. I was overwhelmed with the number of volunteers who arrived early and kept arriving throughout the day and stayed until the job was complete. Thank you are two small words that express so much gratitude. My heart is so full. We even had enough poppies to fill up the grass areas closest to the building, something we have never been able to do in the past. If you have never had the opportunity to see this display in person, please try to come by some time over this Memorial Day weekend. It is quite a moving experience.
Over the past 8 years, our Flanders Field tribute has grown into a community event. As we set up the tribute, people drive by and honk their horns in support, they stop as they walk by to thank us for what we are doing, they take pictures, and sometimes they are moved to tears. We hear stories of how much this means to Veterans who have lost friends in combat. As long as we have the community's support, we will continue our Memorial Day tribute.
