Calgary eatery compromises on staff poppy protocol

A Calgary restaurant has come to a compromise between allowing employees to wear Remembrance Day poppies and food safety.

Staff at a Red Lobster location in northwest Calgary must use something other than a straight pin to attach the emblem to their clothing. It's a safety precaution and not a corporate policy for the chain, said manager Rob Stilborn.

A pin fell into a customer's food last year, but the patron noticed it before starting to eat, he said.

"We'll allow them to wear it if they're secured with a staple or a safety pin or something that's actually got a securing mechanism to it," he told CBC News on Monday.

An earlier newspaper report that the restaurant banned its employees from wearing poppies created quite a stir, said Stilborn.

"I've fielded calls from guests. I just got off the phone earlier with a [Southern Alberta Institute of Technology] student who apparently, they are organizing a petition. I talked with CNN from the United States. Yeah, it's been quite a concern."

Stilborn said his restaurant supports the Calgary Poppy Fund and has a poppy box to collect donations at the front counter.

George Bittman, chair of the Calgary Poppy Fund, admits the poppies are easy to misplace.

"I just lost two on my drive down here, from the seatbelt on our van here, and I think it's a moneymaker for the poppy fund," he said.

Bittman said Calgary raises about $2 per person the highest rate in the country with the poppy fund.

Calgarians donated almost $2 million to the fund last year.