Dicks tells story of Poppies, Memorial Day traditions

    GRUNDY CENTER -- The Rev. Phil Dicks of the Grundy Center United Methodist Church, presented a moving story of his grandfather, poppies and the tradition of Memorial Day in his hometown of Albia.
    “I grew up listening to the Story,” he said of the words he heard about the brave men and women who left their hometowns to protect our American way of life during World War I. “As a young child, I enjoyed being around those who told the Story ... because in so many ways, their story was my Story. One of my heroes was my grandfather.”
    He went on to talk about how Albia blossomed each Memorial Day and how everybody wore poppies, which are sold by the American Legion Auxiliary and commemorate soldiers who died during war.
    “Poppies adorned coveralls and caps, shirts and uniforms, because the ladies of the American Legion Auxiliary counted it among their missions to ensure that everyone proudly wore a poppy,” he said.
    “Utterly lost on the youngest – like myself – was the reason wearing the poppy was so important.”

For more of this story, see the May 29 Grundy Register.