Good reviews and a good project
Elsewhere on this page, you will find a couple of letters to the editor from people who were in town for some part of the Memorial Day weekend. Add these to the complimentary notes about our community and events in the past couple of editions of the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin. Memorial Day weekend in Peabody was a crowd pleaser.
It has been several years since I wrote about the Avenue of Flags at Prairie Lawn Cemetery. The members of the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion who make that happen every year need to be thanked repeatedly for the effort they make. It is one of the most moving sights you will ever see — especially at night. If you missed it this year, be sure to mark your calendar and make a pilgrimage to Prairie Lawn in 2010. You won’t be sorry.
There was brief discussion earlier this spring about some veterans who are buried there, but are not represented in the Avenue of Flags. A few people believed every veteran buried at Prairie Lawn should have a flag designated in his or her honor. I found out that while they are not necessarily wrong in their thinking, there is a protocol for each flag that is installed.
The veteran’s family donates the flag to be used, and money to add a flag, flagpole, nameplate, and lighting for the veteran must be available. Each flag is marked with a veteran’s name and actually does fly on a pole with the veteran’s nameplate.
The person I talked to also noted that American Legion members are running out of space in the areas now occupied by the Avenue of Flags. There is room to expand to the back of the cemetery, but that will require a heavy infusion of funds to provide electrical service to light the flags. As with every project worth doing, there are costs involved.
Another requirement for expanding the Avenue of Flags will be getting the muscle to do it. Volunteers will be needed not only for the expansion but also to put up and take down additional flags every year. Currently American Legion volunteers do all of that work. In addition, volunteers from the Sons of the American Legion place a white cross with poppies on the grave of every veteran except the 144 Civil War graves — they are attended to by members of the Civil War re-enactors group, the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry.
The stunning sight at Prairie Lawn Cemetery every Memorial Day weekend is the result of countless donated hours.
I am not sure how American Legion members will reconcile the necessity of receiving a veteran’s flag before he or she is represented in the Avenue, but I bet that is the least of the problem. Paying the bill and providing the labor will be areas of major concern. Memorial gifts have been designated to the Avenue of Flags many times, as veterans of conflicts since World War II have died. Those donations have been appreciated.
Perhaps it is time for more of us to contribute and volunteer to help in appreciation of all that we have been given. Our veterans made sacrifices so that we can enjoy what we have today. We should give something back.
July 4 is coming — another holiday when we are reminded of our freedom and good fortune. Write a check and send it to American Legion Post 95, 108 N. Walnut, Peabody KS 66866, indicating a contribution to the Avenue of Flags. The legion maintains a separate account for those donations. It never is used for other expenses. Call a legion member and ask to be included in the group of volunteers who take care of the flags next year.
Our veterans deserve it.
— Susan Marshall
