Monday 27 April 2015

The power of a blog post

I was wrong on Anzac Day regarding the 5000 poppies………there were FAR more than 5000 poppies, although that was the project’s name.

 

The woman who initiated the call for poppies to be made,  Lynn Berry initially asked that people help her make 120 poppies to honour her father who served in WW2.  After quickly reaching her goal, she went online and wrote a blog asking for help to reach her goal of 5000 poppies….hence the name of the project!

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She set her goal for this year, two years ago, to commemorate the Centenary of the Anzacs. (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps)  She was quickly over-run with poppies from people all over the world with their own personal stories to tell of love, loss and gratitude. Approximately  50,000 people were involved - Children, people in retirement villages, CWAs, RSLs, each poppy had it’s own story to tell.

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There were dozens of volunteers who worked to connect the poppies to a wire carpet which was  laid over the steps of Federation Square, Melbourne in several panels.  These panels were then moved to the Princes Street Bridge for the Anzac Day parade, to line the path of the veterans as they marched between the city centre and the war memorial.

Now it’s their turn to tour Australia for the centenary and be admired by all.  They will then find a permanent home which the organiser hopes will be at the National War Memorial in Canberra.

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The concept has taken on a life of its own, with regional towns beginning their own knitted poppy tributes, while New Zealand is believed to have created more than 50,000 for their own Anzac commemorations.

It floors me how powerful our blogging can be and how one person’s dream can become reality simply by asking like-minded people with a purpose. 

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LEST WE FORGET……..with bloggers and our craft, our diggers will never be forgotten.  Go HERE to see many more of the images of our Centenary celebrated by our craft.

xox Sugary hugs :o)

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8 comments:

Cheryll said...

What a remarkable story...
Here's hoping all those gorgeous poppy flowers end up a permanent memorial.

Anonymous said...

Wow such a powerful story Wendy,Thankyou for sharing xx

Baa. xxx said...

Yes, they look awesome. Saw the New Zealand volunteers attaching and sewing them the other night on our T.V

Lin said...

Fantastic. xx

Anonymous said...

That truly is amazing. The new view of the carpeting of poppies is magnificent. Thank you for sharing this.

Susan said...

I had seen a lot of pictures of federation Square - but hadnt herd the story - thanks for sharing...

Beatrice said...

Thank you for those extra pictures and the explanations.
Beatrice (from France).

Allie said...

WOW. That just takes my breath away....