The Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum’s poppy display, featuring 3,500 hand-crocheted poppies, has been taken down, dried and will be stored in the museum until it can be reinstalled next year.

“Mission accomplished. I refer to everything here in military terms,” members services assistant Barbara Worthy said in an interview.

Crews from Davy Tree Expert Company had the display down within minutes, she said.

The poppy display was taken over to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124 hall where it was hung out to dry before being carefully folded and stored in the museum's basement, she said.

But that’s far from the end of the poppy display. Worthy said it will definitely be back up next year – and will be even bigger.

“We want an expanded design for next year and people have already started to knit,” she said.

“We’re encouraging people to keep knitting because then we will be ready.”

More than 20 volunteers knitted for nearly two months to create the poppies needed for the display.

“They were in a bit of a mad, mad rush as we had to do it in such a compressed amount of time this year,” Worthy said.

She said there are worries some of the poppies may get damaged in storage but that’s all the more reason for the Poppy Brigade to keep knitting away.

Worthy hopes for the display to have the names of NOTL veterans displayed along with the poppies next year.

“I think we’ll invite people to contribute a name of a veteran or a family member's name. I think that would be very lovely.”

The display was the talk of the town for the few weeks it was up.

“So much love and a sense of honour. As much as it was a piece of art, it was an art of remembrance,” Worthy said.