Century-old poppy sale among Faribault's oldest traditions

One hundred years ago, the American Legion adopted a national program that’s become a group of Faribault women’s springtime tradition: the poppy sale.

The women of the American Legion Post 43 Auxiliary gather every year to fluff up some red, green and black paper into small flowers called poppies. Then, the group spends a few days outside local stores and sells them using a pay-what-you-can system.

“There is no set price,” said longtime chair of the poppy sale, Irene Eiler. “We accept any contribution. We get anything from change in hand to a $100 bill. Anything that people wish to put in the basket.”

Proceeds from the annual fundraiser go to a number of different organizations that support veterans and their families, like BELIEVET, a nonprofit based just south of Northfield that trains service animals for veterans and first responders.

“Whatever we can do for our veterans and their families is the reason that we’re here,” Eiler added.

Auxiliary member Jeanette Hammond said the group uses part of the funds to buy gifts for local veterans living in nursing homes or assisted-living facility. The Auxiliary visits those veterans four times a year.

The poppies are meant to be worn on National Poppy Day (May 24) and the weekend before Memorial Day, as well as any other day meant to support veterans and active military.

Eiler said the Faribault community has always been supportive.

“The Faribault area is amazing,” she said. “That’s the right word for it.”

The tradition formed after World War I, when hundreds of poppies began to spring up atop the mass graves of soldiers. Scientists say this is due to lime that covered the ground of France and Belgium from rubble.

Today’s poppies are made of paper. Each poppy has three colors. Red represents the bloodshed from the Great War. The green represents soldiers still alive, while the black represents those who were lost in WWI or any war since.

Auxiliary President Kathy Larson said she sells the poppies for her dad, brothers and her late husband.

Since it’s been so long since the tradition began, there are no Auxiliary members who were a member for the first poppy sale. Member May Bottke was born in 1924, the same year the poppy drive was adopted by the American Legion as a national campaign.

Bottke still manages to sell poppies, though not in the usual locations. She sells them from the assisted-living facility where she resides.

So why does she sell the poppies each year?

“Because veterans need to be remembered,” she said. “Because of their contributions to our country, our freedom. It needs to be done.”

Her own husband, Bill Bottke, fought in World War II.

“Going off to war, that probably wasn’t their first choice,” she said. “But when they did choose, just think what they gave. The years of service.”

Bill was drafted and sent to Puerto Rico.

“His father, in Faribault, was very ill,” she said. “But the family didn’t tell him because it might worry him because he was so far away. He was the only son.”

His father died soon after his diagnosis. Bill came home for the funeral, but was quickly shipped back to service. After some short time at Fort Hood in Texas, he was sent to Europe to fight.

May said he rarely gave details about his time there, though she knew he developed a fear of deep waters due to the underwater mines used in the war.

“My husband always talked about how how miserable it was when they got wet,” she recalled. “Your socks didn’t dry out. They slept with newspapers on their beds, just to keep the cold from coming through.”

She said there was a time when he revealed some of the war stories, though she wishes she’d asked about more.

“There were so many times that questions would come up, but I didn’t ask him,” she said. “I should have asked him lots more about what the war was really like. But one time another veteran came over, and those two sat together and they talked and drank. … I wish I’d been in the living room, just sitting there, listening to those two. Because they had so much to talk about, and many times they didn’t want to talk about it. Just, like it was yesterday. It was terribly important but very emotional.”