Roth Hafer and Gary Sakuma of American Legion Post No. 172 greet customers outside the Ace Hardware on Bainbridge Saturday as the Legion holds its annual sale of memorial poppies.

Bainbridge’s Post 172, along with its Auxiliary Unit and SAL Squadron, were accepting donations for the poppies outside of Ace, Safeway, Town & Country and the Bainbridge ferry terminal on Saturday, and the fundraiser continues on Sunday, May 20.

The American Legion and American Auxiliary have sponsored Poppy Day for more than 90 years, and the main purpose is to remind Americans of the sacrifices millions of veterans have made to keep the country free.

The red poppy is widely recognized as a memorial flower to the war dead, and its history dates back to World War I, and the fields of Flanders, Belgium, where the poppies grew wild on the battlefields where hundreds of thousands died during the battles of Ypres on the Western Front.

Donations go directly to veterans rehabilitation and child welfare programs; no money is retained by the Legion or the Auxiliary, which conducts the poppy sale as a voluntary effort.

(Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review)