The Melfort Legion is inviting community members to join them for Decoration Day this Sunday.
Members of the Legion will be at Mount Pleasant Cemetery to place flags on veterans’ posts who survived the wars but are interred at the cemetery.
Legion President Jim Graham told northeastNOW the ceremony is traditionally held in June and this year will take place on June 6 which is the anniversary of D-Day of the Second World War.
“We mark the solemn occasion and go through the remembrance process for all the veterans who are buried at Mount Pleasant and veterans in general,” Graham said.
Last year, it was difficult to have the ceremony as the supply of flags was halted due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Catastrophically, the day after we placed the ones that we had, a plow wind went through and blew them all to kingdom come,” Graham said. “We hope to be a bit luckier with that this year and we do have enough flags to go around.”
A service will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. and then the placing of flags will follow. There will also be some closing remarks at the end of the ceremony.
In the past, the air cadets would be involved with the placing of flags, but the group has not been available for the past couple of years.
“We decided to start inviting the public to come out and review the short service and help to distribute the flags,” Graham said. “Each veterans grave is marked with a marker post, and we go around and place the flags in each post.”
Graham said for himself personally it is important because he can place a flag in his dad’s marker post.
“That is an option to other people who have relatives and friends that are buried there,” Graham said.
Community members should come casually dressed as they will be walking throughout the cemetery and be there by 1:30 p.m. Graham said it only takes about an hour to cover all of the ground if they have enough help.
“This is something in the legion that we take a lot of pride in and feel is very important in the community,” Graham said.
A supply of 500 flags has been secured and around 370 markers will be up to be filled with flags that day.
“We have over 800 veterans from the Melfort community who served and almost half are buried at the cemetery,” Graham said. “When you see those numbers, it really brings home how big of an impact it has had on the community.”
Photos of veterans from the area that have been able to be identified can be found at the Legion Hall and more have been added over the last year.
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angie.rolheiser@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser
