Mayor, Cr Paul Hooper, described the event and why Marian College had been chosen to receive this prestigious award. 

“Marian College’s poppy project was rewarded for the benefits it has provided the Ararat community. It celebrated the anniversary of the Gallipoli landing and the sacrifice made by so many for their country,” Cr Hooper said on Tuesday. 

“The project also recognised and celebrated the 1800 people from the Ararat and rural areas who fought for Australia during the First World War.”

Cr Hooper said the target of 1800 poppies was met by inviting many people into the college as well as reaching out to the broader community of Ararat Rural City to create a poppy as a mark of respect. 

“Open days were held for the community to come and make a poppy as well as attending the unveiling and the planting of the poppies, with over seven thousand dollars raised from the event going to Legacy – the organisation dedicated to caring for the families of the deceased and incapacitated veterans,” he said. 

“A number of legacy members attended the event in Ararat over the weekend and offered the wonderful opportunity for Marian College and the wider community to commemorate this important anniversary.”  

Ceramics teacher John Eagle accepted the award on behalf of Marian College, and he spoke about the project and where the idea originated.

“The whole project started in a very small way because we saw some work done in England, around the Tower of London – about nearly a million poppies,” Mr Eagle said. 

“One of our teachers made the point that we could have one of classes do this and there was someone there silly enough to say ‘what about we do one for everybody who left the Ararat area?’ 

“A few other people beyond Simone (Conroy), Marihi (Aitkin) and myself were involved – about seven or eight hundred, so it really is a big community project.”