SHAWANO, WI- A Memorial Day tradition in Shawano continued on Thursday.
Over 1,000 flags were placed by the gravesites of Veterans at Woodlawn Cemetery.
COVID-19 concerns changed up some of the traditions at the National cemeteries for Memorial Day. One thing that changed was that flag placement was not allowed to observe social distancing.
Nick Benzinger, Shawano County Veteran’s Service Officer said they saw no reason to end that tradition in Shawano.
“It is easy to do in an open air environment and was kind of a no-brianer for us.”
Benzinger says all of the work is done by volunteers.
“We sent out some emails and we have veterans, community members, kids and organizations helping,” he said. “We send them out with flags and a map and they go to it.”
The work was done in under 30 minutues.
Rosie Thiel has been doing this activity with scouts for years.
“Before they put those flag holders in, this used to take about 5 hours,” she said.
The flag holders, put in place by the Veteran’s Service Office, not only hold the flags, but also mark the spot where flags need to go and make the whole process easy.
” You look around and right next to the grave stones and there will be a flag holder so you know where to put the flags,” Rosie’s son Tanner Thiel said. “There are little prongs in the back and they slide right in.”
Benzinger says once the holiday is over, they will take them out and some of the flags will be saved for next year.
“A flag is usually only good for about two years, but we get flags donated by Qualheims every year, so that is great to have.”
Benzinger says they continuee to offer flag holders for all Shawano cemeteries that are interested.
In a short period of time, the cemetery is ready for Monday morning.
“Once all the flags out there it looks great,” Benzinger said. “We have over 1000 veterans in Woodlawn Cemetery alone.
For the kids participating, it is an eye-opening experience.
“I am happy to do this for our Veteran’s who died for us,” one young volunteer said.
The Memorial Day ceremony will take place at the cemetery on Monday, May 25 at 10:00 a.m. The ceremony is expected to be abbreviated, but is still open to the public.
Due to COVID-19 concerns, the parade was canceled.
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