(Left) ALA Poppy Poster Contest winners from Oxford Academy Middle School: Emily Williams, 1st place; Abby Polaro, 3rd place; and Sadie Laing, 2nd place. (Submitted photo) (Middle) Oxford Academy High School winners of the ALA Poppy Poster Contest. Pictured is ALA Poppy Chairman Terrill Sutton, 2nd place winner Olivia Barbosa, 3rd place winner Owen Behr, and Art Educator Joni Eaton. (Photo by Dawn Hover) (Right) Nivayah Demuth, Oxford Academy High School first place winner of the 2022 ALA Poppy Poster Contest, with Art Educator Joni Eaton. (Photo by Dawn Hover)

by Jeanie Petersen, Sun Correspondent

OXFORD – The American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Unit 376 sponsored a Poppy Poster Contest in both the Oxford Academy Middle and High Schools. The event was chaired by Terrill Sutton with assistance by Art Educators Charity Gipp and Joni Eaton. Six students were selected as poster winners.

The ALA's Poppy Poster Contest was started in 2018 by Terrill Sutton, Unit 376’s Poppy Chairman.

"The purpose of doing this is to have the students learn about what the Red Flanders Field Poppy represented originally, and what it still stands for today," Terrill explained.

In 2018, Terrill asked Art Educators Charity Gipp of the middle school and Joni Eaton of the high school to have their students learn the meaning of the red Memorial Poppy and read the poem "In Flanders Field." Terrill then asked the instructors to have their art students create posters, in any medium, to be displayed at the Oxford American Legion Post 376 for a competition.

"Charity and I have participated every year since its start," said Eaton.

The criteria for the local poster contest is only that it is 11 by 14 inches in paper size, and that a red Flanders Field poppy is depicted. Other than that, students may add anything else they would like, such as the American Flag, silhouettes of soldiers, or crosses.

Each poster should have a fitting slogan such as "We Will Not Forget," or a line from the Flanders Field Poem. The Unit's contest regulations are more relaxed than the National ALA contest.

The artwork was delivered to the Fort Hill Post 376 where it was judged by the American Legion Auxiliary officers. The winning poster display remained up for a month for all to appreciate, and they can be viewed during the Sunday Community Breakfasts.

Winning Poppy Poster students are awarded gift cards to their choice of restaurants, from Hoppie's, Joe and Vinny's, The Stadium, or Roma's.

Winners of the Poppy Poster Contest from the Middle School are Emily Williams in first place, Sadie Laing in second place, and Abby Polaro in third place.


Winners from the High School are Nivayah Demuth in first place, Olivia Barbosa in second place, and Owen Behr in third place.

To read more about the ALA or to see the poppy posters online, visit the "Poster Contest" webpage at: oxford-ala.chenango.org and click on the 2022 year.

The Oxford Fort Hill Legion is located at 17 S Washington Avenue. For more information contact the Legion at (607-843-8166 or email events@oxfordny.com.