'It just makes everybody take a step back': Minnedosa poppy blanket set up for the second straight year

WINNIPEG -

As Remembrance Day approaches, the town of Minnedosa has once again set up its poppy blanket that was created last year.

Lorna Hislop, the organizer behind the blanket, said it was set up Monday around a cenotaph in the town.

"It went very well. I have a few little fluff up and tweaks to do, but overall I'm very pleased with how it wintered," said Hislop.

She said the idea all started after she saw women in England create their own blanket and then display it on a turret at a castle.

"It just kind of stuck with me and I was in awe of it. So I had in the back burner for a while and then about three or four years ago, Winnipeg decided to make their own poppy blanket and it kind of renewed my interest in it."

She said she had started planning the project last year but then the pandemic shut everything down, which made the project more difficult.

The poppy blanket wrapped around a cenotaph in Minnedosa. (Source: Lorna Hislop. Nov. 2, 2021)

Despite the setback, she said she still went through with the planning and talks with a crochet group in the town to see what could be done.

"They were all excited about it and then I just made it open to the community and invited anybody who wanted to help."

She said by the time October came around, she had about 4,600 poppies and the province opened up enough that people could get together to help out the blanket together.

"We spent three days putting all the poppies together and we were able to get it out on the cenotaph on Nov. 1."

Hislop said it is a real honour to be able to have the blanket out again for another year and she has already received messages from people who are excited that it has been set up again.

"It just makes everybody take a step back and I'm hoping they will reflect on just what it means to acknowledge what the veterans have given us over the years. I mean, we were so shut down over the last couple of years, and we take things for granted with what we have been given."

There are no plans right now to add on to the blanket at all, but Hislop added something could develop in the future.