DEAR SUN SPOTS: The city of Lewiston helps recruit volunteers to place almost 7,500 flags at the individual veteran’s gravestones within the cemeteries around the city. Volunteers are needed for this large community project.

Brief background: The state passed a law in 2001 that requires municipalities to purchase and place individual American flags at the gravestone of every veteran buried in each cemetery in that town. The flags must be in place for Memorial Day each year. Lewiston has 13 cemeteries and places almost 7,500 flags. All work is done by community volunteers. 

For many of the smaller cemeteries, the abutting neighbors usually place the flags each year. For the two largest cemeteries, Riverside and St. Peter’s, there are service organizations that have adopted these cemeteries over the years and take care of placing the flags for the City.

These groups welcome volunteers to assist them at the following locations:    

Riverside Cemetery, 192 Summer St., Saturday, May 16, 8:30 a.m. Rain date Saturday, May 23, 9 a.m. The Knights of Columbus is the coordinator for this location. Contact Leo Baillargeon at 577-7424. There are about 1,600 flags.

St. Peter’s Cemetery, 217 Switzerland Road, Saturday, May 16, 10 a.m. Rain or shine. Meet at the Mausoleum. Contact Jerry Dewitt at 576-0376 for that day. L/A Veterans Council members are the coordinators. There are about 4,000 flags for this location.

The plan is to assign teams of five to 10 volunteers to an area of the cemetery and to cover the cemetery in a grid fashion to not miss any stone. There is no master list of veterans buried at the cemetery, so volunteers will need to walk each row of stones and read the inscription on each gravesite. If military service is listed on the stone, a flag will be placed there. This is a time-consuming process so many volunteers are appreciated. Volunteers do not need to sign up in advance, come on the day of the event, and receive instructions from the on-site coordinator.

Work gloves are optional but encouraged, volunteers should bring hand sanitizer if interested. Wear sneakers, or boots in case the grass is wet. Bring a screwdriver to use to poke a hole in the grass. This makes it easier to place the  flag in the ground.

We suggest volunteers bring a water bottle, bug spray, hat and sunscreen. Be mindful of ticks. 

Children/youth are encouraged to participate but must be accompanied by an adult. Wearing organization T-shirts is welcome.

Jerry Dewitt, on behalf of the L/A Veterans Council,  expresses appreciation to the volunteers for their efforts: “Thank you for your support of veterans without families to remember their service on this Memorial Day.”

Questions about the process can be directed to the Lewiston City Clerk’s Office at 513-3124, or volunteers can reach out to the event coordinators directly. 

Please share this information with your local clubs, groups, co-workers, and social media. Any help to get the word out is appreciated —Kathy Montejo, Lewiston 

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