South Lake Tahoe, Calif., May25, 2016 – The American Legion Post 795 of South Lake Tahoe invites residents and visitors to join members of the American Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary in remembering those who have died in service to our nation. The Memorial Day ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 30, 2016, at the Happy Homestead Cemetery, 1261 Johnson Blvd, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. After the ceremony, the public is invited to join Legion and Auxiliary members for refreshments at the American Legion Hall, 2748 Lake Tahoe Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.
Memorial Day honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.
On Memorial Day weekend, members of the Auxiliary will be collecting donations for poppies, which have become a national symbol of Memorial Day. Poppy donation locations on Friday and Saturday, May 27 – 28, 2016, include Raley’s Supermarkets at the South Y Center, 1040 Emerald Bay Rd. and 4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150, and Safeway, 1020 Johnson Lane, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150, and possibly the Main Post Office, 1046 Al Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150 on Friday, May 27, 2016.
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.
Happy Homestead is the final resting place to more than 560 veterans. Volunteers are encouraged to help the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 1632 and the veteran’s group, Vets in Counseling, place American flags at their gravesites prior to Memorial Day weekend. Volunteers are asked to meet at Happy Homestead Cemetery on Friday, May 27, 2016, at 9 a.m.
For more information, contact Ladies Auxiliary President, Carol Olivas at (530) 544-1306.