Governor gets pinned with first poppy
(L-R) Shadden McLaughlin, Mike Marshall, Cathy Frazier, CIVA President Capt. Dale Banks, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, Governor Helen Kilpatrick, Ewart Ebanks, Paul Ebanks, Deborah Ebanks, Loxley Banks, Rudy Kudritzki and Graham Walker
(CNS): Two veterans’ daughters kicked off this year’s poppy appeal by pinning one on Governor Helen Kilpatrick at the Government Administration Building (GAB) on Monday, 5 October. Cathy Frazier, daughter of the late veteran Dalkieth Bodden, and Deborah Ebanks, daughter of veteran Ewart Ebanks, continued the annual tradition of pinning the first poppy on the governor, who is patron of the Cayman Islands Veteran Association (CIVA), which organises the campaign.
The poppy appeal helps raise funds to benefit veterans and their widows. Poppies will be presented or available for those making donations in collection boxes at many locations throughout the Cayman Islands.
CIVA President Dale Banks spoke of the two veterans represented at the pinning. He explained that Bodden had paid his own fare to England to enlist in the Royal Air Force during World War II and served mainly with the British forces in East Africa. Ebanks, at 95, is CIVA’s oldest – and very active — member. He is one of 201 young Caymanians who enlisted in the Royal Navy, were then trained in all facets of naval warfare and tasked to safeguard vital military assets in Trinidad, Banks said.
This year, the appeal kickoff was enhanced by a display showcasing one of 888,246 blood-red ceramic poppies that were created and displayed last year at the Tower of London in England. Each one of those poppies honoured a British or colonial military fatality during the First World War, Banks explained.
He added that the display, created by Mike and Dawn McTaggart, prominently features the ceramic poppy donated by retired Royal Marine Paul Ebanks and his wife, Mary.
The governor thanked the veterans for their services over the years and expressed pride at being their patron. She also noted that the eye-catching display in the GAB lobby would serve to introduce the poppy appeal to younger generations in Cayman.
CIVA’s youngest member, Shadden McLaughlin, an erstwhile member of the US Army, pinned a poppy on Deputy Governor Franz Manderson.
While the collection boxes will remain at the GAB until Remembrance Day on 9 November, the display will be on view until Friday, 16 October; it will then be shown at CIVA’s annual fundraising gala dinner and ball the following evening, at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort.
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