Addison County
Celebrates Memorial Day May 25th
Rotary club’s Flag Raising Project raises funds, flags ADDISON COUNTY — Many have seen an abundance of U.S. flags around Middlebury on the five major flag holidays over the past two years. In the spring of 2013 the Middlebury Rotary Club launched its Flag Raising Project, in which club members in exchange for an annual subscription will raise a flag in front of a home or business for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day. This year, in addition to these flags, Middlebury Rotary is kicking off a new endeavor, The Veteran’s Flag Project, to promote patriotism and to raise funds for local charities. For a $50 annual subscription, they will affix a 3-inch-by-5inch plaque to a 10-foot flag pole and display it in Cannon Park on those five holidays. The plaque will display the name, rank, service, tour of duty and years of service of the veteran of one’s choice, and anyone may visit the flag at their leisure in Cannon Park in downtown Middlebury across from the Ilsley Library. Tim Hollander, president of the Middlebury Rotary, thinks this will be a popular addition to the organization’s annual Flag Raising Project. For more information email rotaryflagproject@gmail.com or fill out and return the form in the Addison Independent. All proceeds will fund charitable needs in Addison County. This year’s beneficiaries are HOPE, Elderly Services, The Turning Point Center and Vermont Special Olympics.
LISA RADER, LEFT, her daughter Stella, and Lisa’s mother, Rhoda, pose during the 2012 Memorial Day ceremony in Brandon. Rader was a flower girl in 1981, and Stella is wearing the same dress her mother wore that day.
Flower girl tradition spans generations By LEE J. KAHRS BRANDON — Every year on the last Monday in May, a group of first-grade girls in white dresses clutch bunches of fresh lilacs in their small hands. They walk single file up Center Street from the Brandon Post Office, smiling and waving to their families and friends. They follow the American Legion Color Guard and the Otter Valley and Neshobe School marching bands, and are joined by the Pittsford and Brandon fire department engines. The small parade with a purpose makes its way to the gazebo in Central Park. There, the girls stand waiting, some fidgeting, some listening, others quietly looking around as the chaplain gives the blessing, and a young boy recites the Gettysburg Address. At the appointed time, after the patriotic songs have been played, the little girls cross Route 7 to the Brandon Civil War monument. They circle the monument twice, then lay their flowers to honor the fallen. The Color Guard fires a 21-gun salute, and in conclusion, two high school trumpeters blow “Taps” in echo, one answering the other with those
singular, plaintive notes. That is Memorial Day in Brandon, and it is unlike Memorial Day anywhere else. The tradition of the flower girls is one that goes back at least to the first decade of the last century, and it is a tradition often handed down through families. Everyone knows someone who was a flower girl in Brandon. As so many traditional Brandon institutions fall by the wayside, like the Rotary Club and the Neshobe Sportsman Club, the tradition of the Memorial Day Flower (See Flower girls, Page 8)
A Publication of the Addison Independent, Thursday, May 21, 2015
PAGE 2 • Memorial Day, A publication of the Addison Independent, May 21, 2015
Vt. Guard official to speak in Bristol BRISTOL — The guest speaker at this year’s Memorial Day observances in Bristol will be Maj. Jacob Roy, the S3 Operations Officer for the 86th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 86th IBCT (MTN), Vermont Army National Guard. He will deliver his address on the village green on Monday afternoon at the conclusion of a parade that will leave from Mount Abraham Union High School at 1 p.m. and march down West Street to the green. Maj. Roy enlisted in the Vermont Army National Guard in 1998 as a flight operations specialist. He attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant engineer officer in 2000. In the 131st Engineer Company, Maj. Roy held positions of platoon leader, company executive officer and assumed command in 2003. In July 2006, he deployed the 131st Engineer Company to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The members of the unit were deployed as a route clearance company with the primary purpose of finding and destroying improvised explosive devises, known as IEDs. Upon his return from Iraq in 2007, Maj. Roy was assigned as the Logistics Officer (S4) for 3-172d Mountain Infantry Battalion. In 2008, he was reassigned as the Commander for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3-172d Mountain Infantry Battalion, and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010. While in Afghanistan, he was assigned the ad-
Peter Welch to address the crowd at Vergennes parade
MAJ. JACOB ROY ditional duty of task force engineer for Paktya Province. Upon his return from Afghanistan, Maj. Roy was assigned as the operations officer for J3-Joint Force Headquarters, and then in 2013 he was assigned as the plans and operations officer for the Director of Military Support. He was assigned to his present position in 2014. Among other distinctions and decorations, Maj. Roy has been awarded two Bronze Stars, a Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, German Armed Forces Achievement Badge, Aviation Badge, and the Combat Action Badge. Maj. Jacob Roy resides in Bristol with his wife, Elizabeth, and their children, Oliver, Abigail and Evan.
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VERGENNES — Congressman Peter chamber, becoming the first Democrat in Welch will be the principal speaker at the history to hold the position of president pro annual Vergennes Memorial Day parade and tempore. ceremonies this coming Monday. In 2006, Welch was elected to Vermont’s The theme to this year’s Memorial Day sole seat in the U.S. House of Representaevents is “Honor and Remember.” The pa- tives. The 2006 campaign gained nationrade will begin at Vergennes wide attention for being the Union High School at 9 a.m. only congressional race in and end at the City Green the country where both canaround 1 p.m. With Mayor didates agreed not to run negBill Benton and other local, ative ads. Welch was re-electstate and national dignitaries ed by wide margins in 2008 in attendance, as well as Verand 2010. gennes American Legion Post As a member of the U.S. 14 Commander Paul Paquin, House, Welch has chamWelch will deliver his address. pioned making homes and Born in Springfield, Mass., buildings more energy effiin 1947, he graduated magna cient, making college more cum laude from Holy Cross affordable, and expanding College in 1969. After workaccess to health care. He took ing a year in Chicago fighting on the banks and credit card housing discrimination as companies who were ripone of the first Robert F. Kenping off small businesses and PETER WELCH nedy Fellows, Welch enrolled consumers. And he fought to in law school at the University of California block efforts to repeal health care reform, Berkeley and graduated in 1973. give tax breaks to millionaires and big oil Welch settled in White River Junction and companies, and restrict women’s right to worked as a public defender before found- choose. Welch has been recognized in Washing a small law practice. He was first elected ington as a skillful and effective legislator. to represent Windsor County in the Vermont After the solemn services at the park, the Senate in 1980. In 1985 he was unanimous- Vergennes American Legion will hold its ly elected by his colleagues to lead the annual chicken barbecue.
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Memorial Day, A publication of the Addison Independent, May 21, 2015 • PAGE
A time of reflection
BUGLER TIM HEFFERNAN of Bristol plays Taps, left, during a ceremony at the Scouting Salute to Veterans Parade in Bristol this past November while veterans from around Vermont listened solemnly. Around 900 people — American Legion delegations, bands, Scouts and veterans — participated in the 16th annual parade, which rotates to different towns around the state each year. File photos by Mark Bouvier
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PAGE 4 • Memorial Day, A publication of the Addison Independent, May 21, 2015
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Editor’s note: This piece was provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Public Law 94-344, known as the Federal Flag Code, contains rules for handling and displaying the U.S. flag. While the federal code contains no penalties for misusing the flag, states have their own flag codes and may impose penalties. The language of the federal code makes clear that the flag is a living symbol. In response to a Supreme Court decision that held that a state law prohibiting flag burning was unconstitutional, Congress enacted the Flag Protection Act in 1989. It provides that anyone who knowingly desecrates the flag may be fined and/or imprisoned for up to one year. However, this law was challenged by the Supreme Court in a 1990 decision that the Flag Protection Act violates the First Amendment free speech protections. IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER Traditional guidelines call for displaying the flag in public only from sunrise to sunset. However, the flag may be displayed at all times if it’s illuminated during darkness. The flag should not be subject to weather damage, so it should not be displayed during rain, snow and wind storms unless it is an all-weather flag. It should be displayed often, but especially on national and state holidays and special occasions. The flag should be displayed on or near the main building of public institutions, schools during school days, and polling places on election days. It should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously. • When carried in procession with other flags, the U.S. flag should be either on the marching right (the flag’s right) or to the front and center of the flag line. When displayed on a float in a parade, the flag should be hung from a staff or suspended so it falls free. It should not be draped over a vehicle. • When displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs, the U.S. flag should be on its own right (left
to a person facing the wall) and its staff should be in front of the other flag’s staff. • In a group of flags displayed from staffs, the U.S. flag should be at the center and the highest point. • When the U.S. flag is displayed other than from a staff, it should be displayed flat, or suspended so that its folds fall free. When displayed over a street, place the union so it faces north or east, depending upon the direction of the street. • When the U.S. flag is displayed from a staff projecting from a building, the union of the flag should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half staff. When suspended from a rope extending from the building on a pole, the flag should be hoisted out, union first from the building. • When flags of states, cities or organizations are flown on the same staff, the U.S. flag must be at the top. • The flag should never be draped or drawn back in folds. Draped red, white (See Flags, Page 6)
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Memorial Day, A publication of the Addison Independent, May 21, 2015 • PAGE
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Poppies have a direct signifigance to our veterans In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly. Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. — John McCrae This was the poem written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada’s First Brigade Artillery. It expressed McCrae’s grief over the “row on row” of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders’ battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought in the First World War. The first printed version of it reportedly was in December
Home at last
SALISBURY NATIVE CARROLL “Bobby” Dyer died in the crash of his Air Force plane 63 years ago in Alaska. His remains were finally recovered last year and on this past Aug. 15 they were interred at the West Salisbury Cemetery during a ceremony with full military honors. Military personnel from the Vermont Air National Guard, the 109th Airlift Wing in Scotia, N.Y., and Hanscom Air Force Base were on hand to pay tribute to Dyer’s service and sacrifice. Independent file photos/Trent Campbell
1915 in the British magazine Punch. McCrae’s poem had a huge impact on two women, Anna E. Guerin of France and Georgia native Moina Michael. Both worked hard to initiate the sale of artificial poppies to help orphans and others left destitute by the war. By the time Guerin established the first sale in the U.S., in 1920 with the help of The American Legion, the poppy was well known in the allied countries — America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — as the “Flower of Remembrance.” Proceeds from that first sale went to the American and French Children’s League. Guerin had difficulty with the distribution of the poppies in early 1922 and sought out Michael for help. Michael had started a smaller-scaled Poppy Day during a YMCA conference she was attending in New York and wanted to use the poppies as a symbol of remembrance of the war. Guerin, called the “Poppy Lady of France” in her homeland, and Michael, later dubbed “The Poppy Princess” by the Georgia legislature, went to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for help. Following its first nationwide distribution of poppies, the VFW adopted the poppy as its official memorial flower in 1922. However, a shortage of poppies from French manufacturers led to the idea of using unemployed and disabled veterans to produce the artificial flowers. In 1924, a
poppy factory was built in Pittsburgh, providing a reliable source of poppies and a practical means of assistance to veterans. Today, veterans at VA medical facilities and veterans homes help assemble the poppies, which are distributed by veterans service organizations throughout the country. Donations received in return for these
artificial poppies have helped countless veterans and their widows, widowers and orphans over the years. The poppy itself continues to serve as a perpetual tribute to those who have given their lives for the nation’s freedom. Editor’s note: This piece was provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
PAGE 6 • Memorial Day, A publication of the Addison Independent, May 21, 2015
Veterans Are Never To Be Forgotten
Flags (Continued from Page 4) ration, with the blue at the top and red at the bottom. The flag may be flown at half-staff to honor a newly deceased federal or state government official by order of the president or the governor, respectively. On Memorial Day, the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon. OTHER THINGS NOT TO DO WITH THE FLAG Out of respect for the U.S. flag, never: • Dip it for any person or thing, even though state flags, regimental colors and
Thank you for your Service.
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other flags may be dipped as a mark of honor. • Display it with the union down, except as a signal of distress. • Let the flag touch anything beneath it: ground, floor, water, merchandise. • Carry it horizontally, but always aloft. • Fasten or display it in a way that will permit it to be damaged or soiled. place anything on the flag, including letters, insignia, or designs of any kind. • Use it for holding anything. • Use it as wearing apparel, bedding or drapery. It should not be used on a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be attached to the uniform of patriotic organizations, military personnel, police officers and firefighters. • Use the flag for advertising or promotion purposes or print it on paper napkins, boxes or anything else intended for temporary use and discard. During the hoisting or lowering of the flag or when it passes in parade or review, Americans should stand at attention facing the flag and place their right hand over the heart. Uniformed military members render the military salute. Men not in uniform should remove any headdress and hold it with their right hand at their left shoulder, the hand resting over the heart. Those who are not U.S. citizens should stand at attention.
Bristol American Legion, Inc. Post 19
Salutes all Veteransthose that served in the past and those currently serving. Brick forms for the memorial are still available.
The Bristol American Legion Post 19 meets at 7pm the 4th Wednesday of every month.
Memorial Day, A publication of the Addison Independent, May 21, 2015 • PAGE
With great appreciation & gratitude to: Bristol American Legion, Post #19 Middlebury American Legion, Post #27 Vergennes American Legion, Post #14
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Middlebury American Legion
49 Wilson Rd., P.O. Box 28, Middlebury, Vt. 05753 • 802-388-9311 • legionpost27@aol.com
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PAGE 8 • Memorial Day, A publication of the Addison Independent, May 21, 2015
Flower girls (Continued from Page 1) Girls in Brandon is perennial, enduring and unchanging. According to Brandon historian and University of Vermont History Professor Kevin Thornton, the first reference to the flower girl tradition was found in a program for the 1902 Brandon Memorial Day ceremony. Thornton, however, is certain that the tradition began well before that, there is just no documentation to support that theory. The Brandon Civil War Monument was erected at the intersection of Park Street and Route 7 in 1886, and children have perennially laid flowers at the foot of the monument on Memorial Day every year since at least 1902. “It used to be a common part of Memorial Day across New England,” Thornton said of children laying flowers. “But now Brandon is the only town left that still does it. I think we’re pretty safe in declaring we’re the only town that still has this tradition.” For the first decade after the Civil War monument was erected, Thornton said Brandon’s Memorial Day ceremony, like so many, was very much by, for and exclusively about veterans. Then, in 1896, the emphasis shifted to the passing on of legacies and the younger generations. “That’s when they started incorporating kids into the ceremony,” Thornton said. From there, Brandon’s tradition grew, to the point when, even in 1907, Thornton said, there are references to Brandon as having “an uncustomary dedication to Memorial Day.” And that dedication endures today. At the 2012 Memorial Day ceremony, Stella An-
drews wore the same white dress her mother Lisa Rader wore when she was a flower girl in 1981. Rader’s mother, Rhoda, made the dress in 1977 for Rader’s older sister, Lorelei, who wore it first. The dress is kept in a box, and Stella’s younger sister, Eva, wore it in the Flower Girls Ceremony last year. Rader vividly recalls her day as a flower girl, saying the feeling of tradition and the seriousness of the day were palpable to her, even as a seven-year-old. “I certainly remember we were part of something,” she said. “I clearly remember the guns going off, and lining up at the post office and walking all through the town and being the focus of the parade. I remember being part of this special role.” The woman who has been in charge of organizing and shepherding the flower girls for the last 28 years is Neshobe School kindergarten teacher Ellen Knapp. Thornton’s admiration for the job Knapp does is clear. “She’s the real hero,” he said. “She has kept this tradition going and miraculously unchanged for so long … and I hope it never changes.” Knapp inherited the job from longtime physical education teacher Carolyn Memoe, who organized the tradition from the mid1960s to 1987, taking up the task from Seminary Hill School first-grade teacher Mary Huntley. Huntley did it through the 1950s and ’60s, Knapp said. Knapp and Memoe were both flower girls themselves and marched in the Independence Day Parade in 2013 along with roughly 40
THESE LITTLE GIRLS from the Neshobe School first grade waited patiently for their moment on Memorial Day in Brandon a few years ago. Since at least 1902, it has been a tradition in Brandon that a group of little girls in white dresses walk around the Civil War monument at the foot of Park Street and lay flowers to honor Brandon’s fallen soldiers. Photo by Lee J. Kahrs
other flower girls, past and present, including Lisa Rader and her daughter Stella. Brandon’s big Independence Day parade that year celebrated town history, including the flower girls. As an adult and a parent, Rader sees Brandon’s Memorial Day ceremony with fresh wisdom and a nod to her own past. “It’s pretty emotional, and it always catches me by surprise,” she said, adding that she appreciates the solemnity of the event. “It’s always understated … There’s no candy throwing, no politicians,” she said. “It’s the reading of the Gettysburg Address. It’s the veterans. It’s just really poignant and meaningful, that we’re trying to remember our veterans
and the sacrifices they’ve made. It’s sincere and it’s in the right place.” As for as the flower girls, Rader agrees that the incorporation of children is key to the ceremony. “The girls wearing white, it’s a clear focus on innocence and that makes the sacrifice our veterans have made so clear,” she said. As for Knapp, she hasn’t lost her excitement for the flower girls ceremony. “I really enjoy tradition, and this is one Brandon can be really proud of,” she said. “It’s another thing that makes Brandon unique. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be part of this. It really is something special.”
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