The final arrivals of the Poppy Day Walk conquered by friends and retired members of the SA Legion in Rosedale beamed bright with smiles as they finished their 35 km walk from Simon’s Town to their retirement village.
The final arrivals of the Poppy Day Walk conquered by friends and retired members of the SA Legion in Rosedale beamed bright with smiles as they finished their 35 km walk from Simon’s Town to their retirement village.
Said organiser of the walk John Gandy: “Kicking off at 07:00, we started a bit late and the traffic was quite hectic for us, being an unofficial walk while some of us battled with some blisters on the way to the finish line. But we made it!”
He completed the same route and distance as a way to raise awareness of and funds for SA Legion last year, comprising a seven-hour-walk from Simon’s Town to Rosebank.
“Our Annual Poppy Day collection goes towards funding our welfare efforts, and last year, as a resident of Rosedale I completed a walk in support of it. My achievement then ‘lit a fire’, among others, and this year I and a band of enthusiasts comprising eight men and seven women, including 82-year-old Heather Cooke, did it again!”
Fit as a fiddle, Cooke was one of the first five to arrive with tremendous striding grace. Asked in disbelief whether she was really 82-years-old, she replied enthusiastically: “I am indeed! I can even show you my driver’s licence!” She attributed her active well being to maintaining a lifestyle where moving one’s limbs plays a central part. “I feel sore, but I’ve been a runner until just before I turned 80. I do a lot of walking and my maiden name is Walker. I enjoy walking, do parkrun walks once a week, but I’ve just been active all the time. Oh, I did run a 10 km this year in April. To others I want to say, ‘it’s never too late to start’.”
As for her sentiments for Poppy Day, Cooke told People’s Post on Saturday her grandfather served in World War I. “I’d rather have peace than war and I feel our government and people ought to learn their history.”
The first at the finish line was Liesel Ellman (43) followed by 70-year-old Tim Reilly in second place with Paul Rosslee (66) short on his heels in third place.
The SA Legion is a registered non-profit and public-benefit organisation that assists military veterans who are battling to make ends meet. This includes accommodation at Rosedale, its retirement facility in Rosebank, clothing, welfare parcels, financial assistance and loan of assistance devices to those in need.
According to its official website, the SA Legion is a national organisation, part of a world-wide family that addresses the needs of ex-service personnel and their dependents by way of housing, pensions, employment and general welfare. It is apolitical, non-sectarian, non-racial, non-sexist and non-partisan.
It represents the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL) on welfare matters and interacts with recipients resident in South Africa and is about fostering a spirit of self-sacrifice, comradeship and cooperation that inspired members of the armed forces to work together in the common interest of their country.
On Poppy Day the South African Legion holds a street collection to raise funds to assist welfare work among military veterans, which takes place on the Saturday nearest Remembrance Day. When one buys a poppy on Poppy Day one pays tribute to those who died, and one is helping those who are left and bear the scars of war.
Donations and bequests to the Cape Town Branch of the Legion are always welcome and gratefully received, however small they may be. To make a donation online visit http://www.payfast.co.za/donate/go/salegioncp or to donate by other means, contact Gandy on 071 610 6002.
