Leavenworth ? Every Veterans Day, American Legion poppies crop up just about everywhere.

Almost everybody knows the tiny crepe-paper flowers raise money for veterans. But it’s likely few area residents realize the flowers are produced in their own back yard.

In a cavernous room at the Leavenworth Veterans Affairs Center, three men make more than 200,000 poppies a year. The poppies are shipped to American Legion posts across Kansas, as well as to several other states.

A week ago, Arthur Lawler and Carol Garvin sat across the table from one another, working on the day’s harvest amid a sea of red. Boxes, each filled with 1,000 poppies, were ready for shipment.

Except for the hum of a radio, it was quiet in their poppy room, where all work is done by hand.

Painstakingly, Lawler wrapped a thin piece of red crepe paper around a form, shaped it into a poppy, and then inserted a green wire through the center. The wire was topped with a feathery green crepe paper, which serves as the center of the poppy.

In a good day, the 58-year-old Lawler said, he can fashion about 500 poppies. He works during the day at the VA center, and at night in his apartment downtown.

Lawler, who works seven days a week (he takes two days off from poppy-making to work at the Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy), said the poppies took up much of his life.

“I even dream about poppies,” said Lawler, who served in the Air Force in Germany during the Vietnam War.

Across the table, Carol Garvin applied an American Legion label to the stem of each flower. After completing 25 flowers, he tied them into a bouquet and placed them in a box for shipping.

Garvin, 88, said he could label about 700 poppies in a day. A Eudora-area native, Garvin served in the Navy during World War II, patrolling along the East Coast. He lives in a Lansing assisted-living center and takes a taxi to work.

These two men, along with Billy Stewart, who wasn’t working on poppies this day, don’t complain about their work. It’s peaceful, low-stress and they can see their accomplishments.

“It pays the rent,” Lawler said.

Lawler began making poppies in 1983 at a VA center in Knoxville, Iowa. When he later moved to Leavenworth, he continued making them. At that time, more area veterans worked on the poppy project.

“We used to have about 50 people making them,” Lawler said.

Cherie Thomas, president of the American Legion Auxiliary, is in charge of the poppy workroom for the VA center. Thomas said she was impressed with the men’s dedication.

“They’re busy guys,” Thomas said of Lawler and Garvin. “Nobody realizes what these two men do.”

The poppies are made and shipped year-round, Thomas said.

For instance, in February, they mailed 130,000 poppies to American Legion chapters.

Although people may think of the red poppies in connection with Veterans Day, they are used throughout the year, Thomas said.

“Some units use them for decorating,” Thomas said. “There are wreaths made of poppies and Christmas trees decorated with poppies.”

In Kansas, she said, poppies also are made by veterans in the Wichita and Dodge City areas.

Veterans such as these who make the poppies deserve commendation, Thomas said.

“There’s not enough attention paid to what the veterans do,” Thomas said.