North Forty News reports that Greeley’s Memorial Day ceremony returns to Linn Grove Cemetery on Monday, May 25, continuing a community tradition that organizers say has been part of local life for more than 100 years.
The free public ceremony begins at 9 a.m. and will include a twenty-one-gun salute, patriotic music, tributes, dedications, a proclamation, guest speakers, and a benediction. The event is hosted by cemetery staff in partnership with Weld County military organizations.
One of the most visible parts of the ceremony is the Avenue of Flags, where more than 180 donated casket flags line the cemetery grounds to honor local veterans and their families. I am honored to again be invited to serve as Master of Ceremonies for this event, and I am sharing this because it deserves your attention.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Greeley is doing what good communities do on Memorial Day: stopping, standing still, and remembering the men and women who did not come home. That may sound old-fashioned, which is another way of saying it still matters.
- The ceremony is Monday, May 25, at 9 a.m. at Linn Grove Cemetery. It is free and open to the public, so the only admission price is showing up with a little gratitude and maybe putting the phone down for an hour.
- The program includes a twenty-one-gun salute, patriotic music, tributes, dedications, a proclamation, guest speakers, and a benediction. In other words, a real civic ceremony, not a hashtag wearing a flag pin.
- The Avenue of Flags will feature more than 180 donated casket flags across the cemetery grounds. That is not decoration. That is memory, sacrifice, family, and duty stitched in red, white, and blue.
- Volunteers can help place American flags on more than 2,000 veterans’ graves from May 18 through May 23, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Anyone interested can contact Linn Grove Cemetery at 970-350-9386. Bring comfortable shoes. Reverence does not require a podium.
My Bottom Line
Memorial Day is not Veterans Day with warmer weather. It is the day we set aside to honor those who gave their lives in military service to this country. We owe them more than a long weekend, a sale flyer, and a half-hearted nod between burgers.
I am honored to again serve as Master of Ceremonies for Greeley’s ceremony at Linn Grove Cemetery. I do not post this to promote myself. I post it because this event is one of those quiet, sturdy traditions that reminds us who we are when we are at our best.
Local government has many jobs, and not all of them involve roads, budgets, and land use hearings that can test the patience of Job. Sometimes the job is to help a community remember rightly. This is one of those times.
If you can attend, attend. If you can volunteer, volunteer. If all you can do is pause and teach a child why those flags are there, do that. A free people should never be too busy to remember the cost of their freedom.
Source: North Forty News
