The Royal Canadian Legion wants to make sure the public never forgets the sacrifices Canadian soldiers have and continue to make to ensure our safety and freedom.
To help them do that the Royal Canadian Legion have enlisted the help of thousands of school children through the Legion’s annual Poster and Literary Contest.
Each year the Royal Canadian Legion asks school children from Grades 1 to 12 to enter their best poem, story, essay, or poster in an effort to promote the National Remembrance Day Service and to honour Canada’s military contributions and heritage.
On May 12 and 13, members of Barrhead’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch visited three area schools, Barrhead Composite High School, Barrhead Elementary, Neerlandia Public Christian School and Dunstable School to present students with their awards.
The contest is divided into four categories: primary (poster contest only) from Grades 1-3, junior from Grades 4-6, intermediate from grades 7-9 and senior from Grades 10-12. Each of those categories are broken down further into poems, essays, black and white posters and colour posters.
John Schroder, of the Legion Poppy Committee, said the Legion usually starts promoting the contest starting in late September to early October in order to give students enough time to complete their literary or artwork for the Nov. 11 ceremony.
The initial judging takes place at the community level by volunteers at local Legion branches with the winning entries continuing to progress to the regional, provincial and national level.
Herman Barkemeyer, Royal Canadian Legion member and Korean War veteran, said the Barrhead area has a number of very talented writers and artists and over the years have done very well in the national competition.
He said about two years ago, a six-year-old Grade 1 student went on to compete in and win at the national level.
“The contest is so important. It helps teach children what happened during the wars, so that they will be able to pass it on to their children,” Barkemeyer said, adding that soon there won’t be any veterans left to make sure their contributions are not forgotten.
