Photos/Letter: Vets Send Out Thanks For Poppy Drive

AVON/SIMSBURY/CANTON, CT - The local Veterans of Foreign Wars post is hailing another successful Poppy Drive.

The drive was staged late last month.

The post has sena letter thanking community members for their participation:

Dear Editor,

On behalf of the Gildo T. Consolini Post 3272, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Avon, CT, I would like to thank all the citizens of the Farmington Valley who donated to our annual Buddy Poppy Drive from May 19 to 29 at Wal-Mart in Avon, Stop and Shop in Simsbury and Shop Rite in Canton. In addition, the Rotary Club of Avon-Canton donated $1,500, joining other local organizations and individuals who gave donations in memory of veterans who served.

The Post is very grateful for all their contributions. The generosity shown by the residents and these organizations resulted in our most successful drive ever.

One-hundred percent of all that was raised will be distributed during the year to the highest- rated national, state and local veteran causes, as well as individual veterans in need. Some of the organizations to which we contribute are the Veterans Oasis at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, Veteran Center at Central Connecticut State University; the Iwo Jima Memorial in New Britain; Quilts of Valor at Avon Congregational Church and the Connecticut Stand Down in Rocky Hill for homeless veterans; Air Force Aid Society; Army Emergency Relief Fund; Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund; Navy Seal Foundation and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In addition, we send relief packages, when requested, to military servicemen and women from the area who are deployed to combat zones.

The kind words of thanks and stories told by many residents while they visited with the veterans at each of the stores are also greatly appreciated. We heard about grandfathers, fathers, sons and brothers who served in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan; and about family members who are currently serving all over the world so that we can enjoy living in freedom.

The familiar red Buddy Poppy, normally worn in the lapel, is a symbol from World War I. It was memorialized in a poem written in 1915 by John McCrae about the poppies growing in a military cemetery near Flanders Field, Belgium, where, in 1914, American soldiers had engaged in battle.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars conducted its first Buddy Poppy distribution before Memorial Day in 1922, becoming the first veterans organization to organize a nationwide distribution. The Buddy Poppy soon was adopted as the official memorial flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

We thank you for your support and look forward to continuing our mission of service to all of our veterans.

Sincerely,

Lee M. Wilson

Commander

Gildo T. Consolini Post 3272, Avon, CT

Chairman – Buddy Poppy Drive 2016

Photo Captions

1. VFW Post 3272 members Carl Heinzelman, Marine Vietnam, and Lee Longchamp, Army Korea, distribute poppies outside Wal-Mart in Avon.
2. VFW Post 3272 member Bob Skeels, Marine Vietnam, distributes poppies outside Wal-Mart in Avon.
3. VFW Post 3272 Commander Lee Wilson, Army Gulf War, distributes poppies outside Stop & Shop in Simsbury.
4. VFW Post 3272 member Dennis Parise, Marine Vietnam, distributes poppies outside Wal-Mart in Avon. The helmet he wore during Vietnam is on display, showing a bullet hole that happened while he was wearing it.
5. VFW Post 3272 member Art Ostheimer, Air Force, Japan Occupation and Korea, distributes poppies outside Wal-Mart in Avon.

Photos courtesy of Deb Key Imagery