Officials unveil new look for museum display honouring local war dead
Hundreds of poppy markers replace worn wooden posts at museum and archives
ABOYNE – Bold and bright, new poppies stand at attention on the front lawn of the Wellington County Museum and Archives.
The corrugated plastic cutouts have replaced the original wooden post and rectangular plastic makers that have been used in the Wellington County Remembers display each November for the past 12 years.
Wellington Place administrator Jana Burns said the old markers were cumbersome, worn and had a “cemetery feel.”
Some of the placards, bearing the names of the more than 500 of the county’s war dead, also had misspellings or duplicate names.
“I proposed doing a full redesign,” museum technician Julia Barclay told the Advertiser.
She sketched a new poppy design so the front lawn would look less like a cemetery of white crosses and more like a local Flanders field.
“When you’re on [Wellington Road 18] facing the museum it will look more like a field of poppies,” Barclay said.
The new design also incorporates easier-to-install metal stakes. Instead of hammering each wooden post into the ground, the new stakes can be planted by standing on the frame. What used to take an entire day is now done in a morning.
Each marker is arranged alphabetically, bearing the name of the fallen, where they were from, the date of their death, where they are buried and the conflict in which they served.
In total, 502 markers are arranged by municipality in eight rows on both sides of the lawn, spaced 19 feet apart.
LEFT: Kelly Dixon positions a poppy cutout on a stake. MIDDLE: From left, Hailey Johnston, Emily Benedict, Kelly Dixon assemble a row of placards and stakes. RIGHT: Kelly Dixon checks names on the placards against the county's records.
New this year, are two additional markers with a scannable QR code directing users to the museum and archives’ “Wellington County Remembers” online database with photos, letters and military service records attached to each of the names. The database has received 1,918 visits in the past two years, according to the county.
Barclay’s predecessor, Phil Dietrich, came up with the idea for the display and the original design.
“It was supposed to be a one-time thing,” Barclay said. “It was so well-received, they kept doing it.”
Burns said the total cost of the new poppy placards and hardware was $16,692.
Held in partnership with the county’s Legion branches, a Nov. 9 service, from 10:30am to 12:30pm, will honour locals lost in both World Wars, the Korean War, Afghanistan and in service with NATO.
On Nov. 10, from 5:30 to 6pm, the public can place a candle at each of the new markers, which will remain lit throughout Remembrance Day until the morning of Nov. 12.
The museum and archives will be closed on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11.
