Scrapbook helps put poppy princess at top

By Rod Stetzer
Associated Press
Published September 6, 2006

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — Jenessa Miland likes poppies.

The 6-year-old Stanley girl has made poppy cookies for the elderly in nursing homes.

She has also has made poppy hats, poppy bookmarks, a poppy poster and poppy basket, and with other Brownies in her troop, she made poppy cards to be sent to veterans in hospitals.
She has sold bright red crepe paper poppies, the symbol of the American Legion Auxiliary, at Stanley Alumni events.
“We’ve also passed poppies out on the street and at parades, too,” said her mother, Mindy.
“She wanted nothing more than to be the national poppy princess,” Mindy Miland said.
And that’s the role the national American Legion Auxiliary has selected for Jenessa.
To be exact, she is Tiny Miss Poppy, a national title available for one child age 12 and younger. (A second title, Miss Poppy, is for a child older than 12.)
Jenessa won the honor in July at the Wisconsin American Legion Auxiliary convention in Middleton.
Mindy Miland is a member of the American Legion Auxiliary for the Walter Nelson-Unit 326 post in Boyd.
Besides Jenessa, Mindy and her husband Ben’s family includes son Benjamin, 8, and niece Merissa, 15.
The familiar red crepe poppies sold by the Legion are made by veterans, allowing them to earn a small supplemental wage. The proceeds are used to support veterans and their families.
“The poppy also reminds the community of the past sacrifices and continuing needs of our veterans,” says the national auxiliary Web site, www.legion-aux.org.
Jenessa started as a “tinkerbell” for the legion auxiliary, playing bells at nursing homes.
She became a poppy princess for the Boyd Legion in April 2005.
“We decided to start working on a scrapbook” of her poppy activities, Mindy Miland said.
She took her scrapbook to a district, 10-county meeting in River Falls in April.
“Her book was judged and she won district,” Mindy Miland said.
From there she went to the state convention. Her scrapbook and her snappy poppy-red outfit helped her to win there.
“Then they announced she won the nationals,” Mindy Miland said.
Her scrapbook was sent to Salt Lake City, where the auxiliary held its national convention last week.

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