Community, Canadian stories, service and sacrifice
November will take on a purple colour in Middleton, adding remembrance of the service and sacrifice of animals in conflict.
The Macdonald Museum will display its now-annual main staircase cascade of traditional red fibre poppies November 3 through 13, but is adding a number of new remembrance exhibits to help visitors make a connection with local, Canadian and both human and animal wartime contributions and loss.
“Last year, we were brainstorming what we could do differently, and we saw a lot of the purple poppy effort in the United Kingdom,” says museum director Claire Grazette. The British People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals established the PDSA Dickin Medal in 1943 to recognize the loss of animal life in and through conflict, awarded to animals devotedly and bravely serving with armed forces or civil defence units in any theatre of war worldwide. An inscription on the medal reads, “We also serve.”
“Two years ago, we had done a display of 20 purple poppies and a write-up on the Dickin Medal, and we showcased a couple stories on horses and pigeons.”
With Valley author Dave Whitman’s “A War Horse Comes to Nova Scotia” in mind, the post-First World War story of how 15th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force Colonel Bent brought Fritz, along with the battalion’s Belgian sheepdog, Bruno, home with him to Paradise from Germany; the museum developed what will be a full, colourful and heart-warming display on its second-floor landing.
“We put it out to the community: we’ve had about 2,000 red poppies come in over the years, and now we have close to 200 purple poppies.”
The poppies are felt, felted, knitted and crocheted – there are even a few fabric “yo-yo” style flowers. They are in all different hues of purple, in multiple sizes under three inches each. Contributions came in from a workshop organized by the Society of Fibre Artists of the Annapolis River to volunteers making them on their own at home and dropping off contributions to the museum.
Along with the red poppy cascade staircase and the expanded purple poppy display, the museum continues to provide a home for the West Nova Scotia Regiment’s memorabilia and information on the No. 2 Construction Battalion. The Soldier’s Table will return, with its poem describing the placement of each detail in the setting for no one. The museum has a local collection of newly-donated wartime letters back and forth to display, and a Mi’kmaq version of “In Flanders Fields.” Greenwood’s 7Arts Studio will return with its “Life Through a Mask” soldier and veteran hand-made mask creations and, new this year, the Artists’ Circle of the Annapolis Valley will display 20 poppy-themed paintings.
“The one we have coming – I’ve seen it – will hang at the top of the red poppy staircase: it is stunning,” Grazette says. The paintings are for sale, with the artist receiving half the proceeds and the museum and Royal Canadian Legion equally sharing the other half.
“It is going to be pretty full here – the poppies you’ll see are incredible, and the new displays keep people coming in.
“War never really stops, and people are still serving.”
The full display runs weekdays November 3 to 13, including Remembrance Day. The indoor displays, with local connections and both community and Canadian stories, make a lovely visit following an 11 a.m. November 11 service.
Art mask project exhibit
November 11, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 7Arts of Greenwood hosts a casual reception, with its 2019 through 2026 collected exhibit of veterans’, military members’ and family masks; hosted by the Macdonald Museum, 21 School Street, Middleton.
The “Life Through a Mask” expressive art program is regularly offered at 7Arts.
