Lions Place Flags for Veterans Day

Grapeland Noon Lions Club members Glenda Christ and Linda Neel place flags for veterans at Davis Cemetery ahead of Veterans Day

By Jason Jones

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – Volunteers with Grapeland Noon Lions Club are honoring local veterans in an annual tradition by placing American flags on marked gravesites in several local cemeteries.

Noon Lions member Dianne Hollister is coordinating this year’s effort to place the flags at 15 area cemeteries as well as several spots around town in honor of Veterans Day. “The flags are placed for Veterans, following military protocol, on Memorial Day & Veteran’s Day,” said Hollister. “The flags are put out at dawn the day prior to the holiday and taken down at dusk the day after the holiday. The flag is placed to the left of the military marker or the headstone.”

The Lions also provide a cleanup of the area around the markers. The cemeteries serviced by the Lions include the following:

San Pedro Cemetery
Refuge Cemetery
Parker Cemetery

Milligan Cemetery
McCarter Cemetery
Livelyville Cemetery
Hugh Springs Cemetery
Antrim Cemetery

Grapeland City Cemetery
Golden Gate Cemetery
Bobbitt Cemetery
Post Oak Cemetery
Denson Cemetery

Daley-Dailey Cemetery
Davis Cemetery

A few of these sites have over 50 Veterans. Two, Parker and Davis, have nearly 100. All told, the Lions will place well over 500 flags in the cemeteries surrounding the Grapeland area. “When the Grapeland Noon Lions started this project in 2012, we placed 114 flags. Generally, 1 or 2 cemeteries will add more names each holiday,” said Hollister. Nine years later the project has grown to quite the undertaking.

If you have a family member at one of these cemeteries that does not have a marker, please contact a member of Grapeland Noon Lions. The club can also provide the necessary form for obtaining an official marker for Veterans.

Jason Jones may be reached via email at [email protected]