BOONVILLE — The Warrick County Museum continues to keep the memory of the soldiers who fell in World War I and World War II through the annual blooming of the poppies.

The poppies, which only bloom for a few short weeks this time of the year, were grown from seeds that Clarence Addington brought back from northern Italy when he was overseas serving in the U.S. Air Force during WWII.

When Addington returned home, he shared his seeds with the community.

Jed Inman, volunteer with the Warrick County Museum and Master Gardener, said the poppies grow directly from the seeds the flowers produce.

“It actually takes a couple of years to get a good crop of them,” he said. “You may get two or three plants out of several hundred seeds.”

Inman said the poppies will bloom for three or four weeks and then begin to dry up.

He explained when the plant dries up you can then shake the seeds out of it.

“I shake them into a bag and distribute the seeds,” Inman said. “Once you shake all of the seeds out you pull out all of the stalks. I shake them into the ground and leave them alone. You don’t plant them. They like to sit there on top of the ground.”

He said he has been working on the current crop of poppies for three years.

“Once they go through one cold cycle in the winter, the spring warmth will cause them to germinate,” Inman said.

The poppy came to symbolize the war effort and veterans after WWI.

“Our museum is there to preserve history and that’s what we try to do with the poppies,” he said. “The two go hand in hand.”

Submitted 

The Vaughan family, with the help of neighbors, were able to rescue 11 ducklings that were trapped in a storm drain on Oak Grove Road.

WARRICK COUNTY — An emergency rescue happened on Oak Grove Road in early May when 11 ducklings were discovered inside a storm drain.

Angela Vaughan said she and her family noticed a lone duck pacing near a storm drain at the entrance to Talbert’s Ridge subdivision.

“We walked over and sure enough... there were baby ducklings and they were all crying,” she said.

The incident happened between 4-4:30 p.m.

Vaughan said she doesn’t know how the ducklings got down into the drain but another storm front was on its way so time was of the essence.

“We did have storms that day,” she said. “Maybe they had been there for a while.”

She said she called emergency services but they were unable to provide assistance.

So the Vaughan family sprang into action.

Soon enough, other neighbors and children came out to help keep the mama duck, who was shaking, from wandering out into traffic.

“You could tell she was so scared,” said Vaughan. “Her little beak was quivering. You could tell she was calling back to (the ducklings).”

Vaughan’s husband, Dustin, was able to use some of his tools to open the storm drain, which was enough to allow the couple’s son, Dalton, to climb in and rescue each of the 11 ducklings.

“Mama duck went over and laid down in the grass and one by one, my son... carefully picked up each little baby and handed them to my husband,” said Vaughan. “(My husband) would set each little baby down and they would run over to mom. She waited until she got each and every one. Once she got all of them, they went across the road.”

The neighbors helped block the busy rush hour traffic on Oak Grove to allow safe crossing for the ducks.

“All the kids were super excited,” Vaughan said. “Everyone pitched in and helped. (The mama duck) was not going to leave that spot until she had all of her babies.”