In the days leading up to Remembrance Day, an 83-year-old Winnipeg man's basement overflows with poppies.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Remembrance Poppy. Brian Cutts has been with the Royal Canadian Legion for half of that time.

Fifty years ago Cutts had left the military and joined the legion. He is now the Poppy Chairman and second vice president for the Pembina Highway branch, the legion responsible for delivering tens of thousands of poppies to many parts of Winnipeg every year.

"I have been doing it for about the last 15-20 years," Cutts says. "It is a big undertaking but I have a lot of volunteer help."

Each year they hand out roughly 20,000-25,000 poppies at businesses and schools. They hold the top spot in handing out the most poppies of any branch in Winnipeg, going toe-to-toe in the past with the St. James legion. For Cutts, the top spot is a matter of pride. 

"We have eight main routes that we do. We cover all of Pembina Highway, all over the Kenaston area, all of the businesses and restaurants, any retail locations where you get a lot of people traffic."

After the St. Vital legion closed, Cutt's branch took over parts of the neighbourhood, splitting the territory with the Winnipeg South Osborne branch. Fourteen thousand poppies go to the St. Vital area from the Pembina Highway branch each year.

This week Cutts and more than a dozen volunteers are handing out all of their poppies during a total of eight routes. When they collect the proceeds, they will be donated to the St. Boniface Hospital, St. Amant Centre, Deer Lodge, Misericordia Health Centre, the Victoria Lifeline medical store, and two cadet groups.

"Last year with the pandemic we got roughly half of what we normally get. We have topped well over $50,000 when money is coming in."

They consistently disburse over $30,00 to the designated groups every year.

While the demands for poppies continue, legions are losing members due to old age. His legion is no exception. In the summer they announced they would be moving to a smaller building because it was costing too much to maintain a two-story building.