One of the community’s favorite volunteer opportunities is coming this Saturday.
At 8 a.m. on May 16, volunteers will gather at Lakeview Cemetery to help VFW Post 653 place flags on the gravestones of fallen soldiers in advance of Memorial Day.
“The VFW removes the flags it places, so that these flags may be reused next year,” according to Frances Wilson, a New Canaan resident who helps organize the annual gathering together with her husband, Chris. “Removing the flags, is following proper flag etiquette and protocol established at Arlington Cemetery, and of course, has the added benefit of reusing flags, thereby reducing waste and conserving funds.”
(Removing flags is tentatively scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 6.)
Participants are asked to meet in the lower veterans’ section of the cemetery—in through the Main Street entrance and across the bridge, then down on the right. Refreshments will be served.
The VFW—formally the Howard M. Bossa and Peter C. Langenus Post 653 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States—is a donor-supported local organization. This coming weekend, May 16 and 17, memorial poppies will be available for any donation made to the nonprofit organization at several New Canaan businesses—ACME, Dunkin Donuts, Walter Stewart’s Market and Zumbach’s.
“Post 653 uses fundraising proceeds to pay for flags and wreaths that are laid on Memorial Day and during the Christmas season on veterans’ graves at Lakeview and other cemeteries in New Canaan,” Wilson said.
Tax-deductible donations may also be made here online or by sending a check to:
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 653
P.O. BOX 653
New Canaan, CT 06840
If you know of a veteran interred in New Canaan who has not been remembered and honored with a flag and wreath, please contact Mike McGlinn, Commander VFW Post 653 at 203-962-1302.