Memorial Day ceremony at Happy Homestead on Monday

There will be a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 30 at 11:00 a.m. at the Happy Homestead Cemetery in South Lake Tahoe to remember those who have died in service to our nation. The American Legion Post 795 is hosting the ceremony and has invited the public to attend both the remembrance and for refreshments at their hall afterwards.

Close to 600 flags will be placed at Happy Homestead Cemetery by the South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge on Friday morning, and they'll remain throughout the holiday weekend. The cemetery is the final resting place to more than 560 veterans.

Happy Homestead is located at 1261 Johnson Blvd and the American Legion Hall is at 2748 Lake Tahoe Blvd, both in South Lake Tahoe.

On Memorial Day weekend, members of the Auxiliary will be collecting donations for poppies, which have become a national symbol of Memorial Day. On both Friday and Saturday, May 27-28, poppy donation locations include both Raley’s Supermarkets and the Safeway on 1020 Johnson Lane. They will also try to be at the Main Post Office at 1046 Al Tahoe Blvd. on Friday.

This distribution of the bright red memorial flower to the public is one of the oldest and most widely recognized programs of the American Legion Auxiliary. This memorial flower can be traced to a single individual, Miss Moina Michael. She was so moved by Colonel John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields (view at https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/flanders-fields), she bought a bouquet of poppies and handed them to businessmen meeting at the New York YMCA where she worked. Later, she would spearhead a campaign that would result in the adoption of the poppy as the national symbol of sacrifice.

For more information, contact Ladies Auxiliary President, Carol Olivas at (530) 544-1306.