hr907.html
07 LC 38 0432
House Resolution 907
By: Representatives Reece of the 11th, Yates of the 73rd, Crawford of the 16th, Loudermilk of the 14th, and Dempsey of the 13th

A RESOLUTION


Recognizing "Buddy Poppy Day" and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4911 in Floyd County; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, in Paris, France, after World War I, Anna Guerin chose the poppy as a symbol of the wartime dead and it became commonly known as the "flower of remembrance"; and

WHEREAS, in 1920, Ms. Guerin and a host of volunteers made bright red artificial poppies and distributed them to raise money for hundred of thousands of French orphans and others made destitute by the war; and

WHEREAS, in May of 1922, the Veterans of Foreign Wars began its first distribution of poppies made in France; at the VFW national convention in 1923, a plan was adopted to have disabled veterans to assemble the poppies at a factory set up for that purpose in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and

WHEREAS, certain soldiers called their friends "Buddy," so the paper flowers with green-taped wire stems were called Buddy Poppies and were sold by the thousands every Memorial Day; and

WHEREAS, Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankee slugger, presented President Warren G. Harding with the first official Buddy Poppy in 1923; and

WHEREAS, VFW Post 4911 has organized a full schedule of events for Memorial Day weekend including establishing Saturday, May 26, 2007, as "Buddy Poppy Day" in Rome, Georgia.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body recognize and commend the veterans of the City of Rome in Floyd County, Georgia, for their service and their efforts in establishing the Saturday before Memorial Day as "Buddy Poppy Day."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the members of VFW Post 4911 of Rome, Georgia.