THUNDER BAY – A Remembrance Day live stream event will be held on Thursday in honour of the 100th anniversary of the poppy.
ResearchTV is partnering with Lakehead University's history department and Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple to host a free Remembrance Day live stream event on Thursday evening.
Special attention will be paid to Anna Guèrin, “The Poppy Lady of France,” who was instrumental in introducing the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in 1921 at the Prince Arthur Hotel.
“From then on, all across the Commonwealth, veteran’s associations and legions made use of the poppy as a fundraising tool,” said film producer Kelly Saxberg.
“She had begun that much earlier in the First World War because she’s from France and she travelled back and forth during the war and she saw the devastation, the widows and the orphans, and the wounded veterans, so, she wanted to fundraise so that people would be able to support those people after the war.”
The event will feature a recording of the 100th anniversary of the poppy event which took place in July 2021 and culminated in the unveiling of the plaque at the Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel, with speeches by MP Patty Hajdu, MPP Michael Gravelle and Mayor Bill Mauro.
The docudrama, “Where the Poppies Grow – The Lakehead at War” will be streamed at the event followed by a presentation by Dr. Nathan Hatton, on Elizabeth Smellie, “Canada’s Florence Nightingale,” and then a presentation by Dr. Ron Harpelle about his latest film “Le Tireur d’èlite/The Sniper – Patrick Riel.
The event will also feature interviews with Anna Guèrin’s granddaughter, Mme. Sylvie Thouard, M. Claude Vigoureux, the Director of the office of Veterans and Victims of War, who recently completed a short biography of Anna Guèrin, Mayor Guy Massot from Vallon Pont D’arc, Guèrin’s birthplace, and with artist Pascal Boillet.
The live stream will end with an unveiling ceremony of a plaque in memory of Anna Guèrin from d’Aubigny-sur-Nère.
The virtual event is free will begin on Nov. 11 at 10:30 a.m. and will be streaming on the event's page of https://www.researchtvcanada.ca/
