Poppies are the flower that everyone knows to be synonymous with Remembrance Day, but Thursday, students from Montgomery School were planting tulips to honour veterans.
The tulips being planted are part of the Canadian Tulip Festival that honours the liberation of Holland at the end of the Second World War and Canada’s involvement in that.
“I planted two tulips in the front bed of Drayton’s grandma’s house to remember all the soldiers that went over to the Netherlands to help them fight in the war and the 75 years since the Second World War has ended,” said fourth grader Carly Kunz.
“I kind of feel good that they still remember what the Canadians did and how they fought with all the people that live in Holland and they are sending us tulips to thank us.”
The tulips were planted in Kristine Larson’s front yard in the Montgomery neighbourhood of Saskatoon. She says she went to the school about doing this because she felt a personal connection with this initiative.
“We live in Montgomery Place, which is a designated heritage community and our personal connection is that both my husband and I are children of world war two veterans,” said Larson.
“Many of the people who live in this community now have that connection. My husband’s father was deployed to Europe and came home through Holland so we are very familiar with the history of the veterans movement so that’s why we decided to participate in this initiative with the Canadian tulip festival celebrating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Holland.”
The goal of the tulip festival is to plant one tulip for all 1.1 million Canadians who served in the Second World War. The flowers are being planted all across the country.