Memorial Day: more than camping and candy
Polson five-year-old Finley Johnson places flowers on the grave of her great-grandfather, who served in the U.S. Navy.
Jim Pettit provides some music from his bagpipe during the parade in Ronan. The clouds and rainy weather didn’t prevent the parade participants from performing their best
Cub scout Toby Hayes rides with pack 45 in the back of an army truck in the Polson Memorial Day parade.
Military veterans Robert Radtke American Legion, Ron Smith Marine Corps League and Slim Ahrends VFW honor their fallen comrades with a ceremonial 21 gun salute, three volleys into the sky Monday at Polson's Lakeview Cemetery.
Honor detail lead the way during the Ronan Memorial Day Parade.
Four-year-old Katie Dolence crosses the street after the Ronan parade was completed with her bag full of candy.
Little guys Landon Ludwick and Isabella Allred bump heads while picking up candy during Polson's Memorial Day parade.
Thirteen-year-old Spencer Raymond helps his boy scout troop and members of the American Legion place crosses and flags on the tombstones of military veterans at the Lakeview Cemetery Saturday morning. Not even a steady rain could deter the men, both young and old from completing their task. "It's something that helps the community," Raymond said. "It's really good to do for the people who served for America."
LAKE COUNTY — Lake County’s celebrations began in Polson with the traditional Memorial Day parade. It took off in a spitting rain, but the candy-seeking kids lining the streets didn’t seem to mind. The holiday, which dates back to the Civil War, is the day Americans set aside to commemorate their fallen soldiers.
Monday’s events continued at the Lakeview Cemetery where patrons stood under umbrellas and listened as speakers honored the men and women who have lost their lives fighting for their country.
“America must remain the world’s beacon of freedom,” Jeff Nelson, Polson’s American Legion Commander said. “Let us never forget. Freedom is not a gift.”
The large host of veterans then traveled south to lead the Ronan Memorial Day parade.
“It may be a long day, but it’s a day that we recognize and appreciate,” Nelson said.
On Saturday, members of the American Legion, VFW, Boy Scouts and veterans at large placed over 700 crosses at the grave sites of military veterans buried in Lakeview Cemetery. Not even a steady rain could deter the men, both young and old, from completing their task. Thirteen-year-old Spencer Raymond helped top those crosses with small American flags.
“It’s something that helps the community,” Raymond said. “It’s a good thing to do to honor the people who fought for America.”
With all the helping hands, Nelson said accomplishing such a task only takes about an hour.
“It gives them a sense of involvement in the community and a sense of what Memorial Day is about,” Nelson said. “It’s not about picnics and camping all the time.”