This couple has been selling poppies in Central Station for more than 20 years

Article content

After more than 20 years, Lorne Ulley has lost count of exactly how long it has been since he and his wife, Eunice Ulley, first started selling poppies in Montreal’s Central Station every November.

Although neither of the Ulleys served in the military, they have strong family ties to the armed forces.

“I wasn’t a veteran, but my dad was involved with the air force; (Eunice’s) brother was air force; my cousin, she was in the navy, she was in the first Gulf War on the HMCS Provider; her husband is a coxswain on submarines,” said Lorne, 89. “My cousin in the Second World War was navy, his brother was army, and my other cousin was a pilot, a fighter pilot; and then my father’s brother was in the First World War, it was a big family. So we’re attached to the military.”

Article content

For Eunice, 85, selling poppies helps her remember her brother.

“He was my oldest brother and when I was born, he was away in the air force. He was a warrant officer, so I didn’t know him very much,” she said.

But after her brother retired, Eunice, who worked as a nurse before she retired in 1997, said she cared for him after he got sick.

Some of those purchasing poppies from the Ulleys on Tuesday morning also spoke about family connections.

Nathan Lambert said he wears the symbol every year to remember his great-grandfather, who served in the Second World War. Lambert said his great-grandfather was stationed in China when the war began with Japan and he became a prisoner of war.

“He died a few years ago, but I like to keep a fresh poppy,” Lambert said.

Later in life, Lambert said his great-grandfather lived at the veterans’ hospital in Ste-Anne de Bellevue, which receives funds from the poppy campaign.

“He was comfortable there, so I’d like to give back,” he said.

Sharon Jeffers, from Fredericton, N.B., said she grew up with the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy every year. Her father was in the navy during the Second World War, serving aboard HMCS Prestonian, which sailed out of Halifax.

Article content

Article content

“It’s important,” she said. “When people are willing to put their lives on the line to protect us, we should honour what they’re doing. Whether you believe in war or not, you have to honour what they’re doing.”

It’s the sacrifices made during the First and Second World War, and the freedoms those sacrifices protected, that were on the mind of Pierre Lamarr as he bought a poppy from the couple.

“It’s important to remember people who went to war,” he said. “In those days, it seemed to be for a good reason. Today, it’s a lot less clear. But nevertheless, the people who go deserve our support. And luckily, we can always argue whether the reason for war is a good one or a bad one these days and that’s largely because of what was done back in the First World War, Second World War.”

Lorne Ulley said people seem to be donating larger amounts than they used to.

“Most of the donations are in the $5-to-$10 range,” he said, adding that the biggest donation he has received for a single poppy came Tuesday morning when someone gave a $50 bill.

The Legion in Pointe-Saint-Charles that the Ulleys frequent has provided them with friendship and hospitality — as have other legions they regularly visit around their second home, near Lacolle — but he also appreciates the opportunity to volunteer in the community and the support the group provides to veterans.

“It’s not just a veteran thing, it’s a community operation,” he said.

jserebrin@postmedia.com

Article content

Article content