Remembrance Day: Shire of Dardanup to feature red & purple poppies in moving displays

As Remembrance Day draws near, three locations throughout the Shire of Dardanup are set to feature a heartwarming and eye-catching sea of handmade poppies. The Dardanup Shire’s Poppy Project has returned for its second year, with crafty contributors growing the collection of red and purple handmade poppies to make special displays which will be showcased in Dardanup, Eaton and Burekup to acknowledge the human and animal lives lost in battle. The displays, which will be located at the Dardanup War Memorial, the River Valley Primary School memorial in Burekup and the Bethanie Fields entrance in Eaton, will be constructed on Thursday November 10 and will be on show until Sunday November 13. For the past few months, local crafters have been collecting poppy supply packs from the Dardanup Shire office or attended a poppy-making workshop at the Eaton Community Library, hosted by the RSLWA Vollies For Vets. Students from Eaton Community College, South West Regional TAFE and Edith Cowan University have also held poppy-making sessions to contribute to the project. The Flanders poppy has long been a part of Remembrance Day, the ritual that marks the Armistice of November 11, 1918, and is also increasingly being used as part of Anzac Day observances. During the First World War, red poppies were among the first plants to spring up in the devastated battlefields of northern France and Belgium. The purple poppy remembers animal victims of war and human violence, acknowledging that animals cannot volunteer and have no choice in becoming involved in war when they serve alongside human military personnel. Dardanup Shire president Mick Bennett said the displays would provide a fitting and moving tribute. “Thank you to all those community members who have participated in this special project and I look forward to seeing it continue to grow in size and significance in coming years,” he said.