A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Stan Lamb planted a flag at a gravesite at Maple Grove Cemetery with the help of Steve Teasck, left, and Kyle Lamb.
City of Cloquet street department employees Mark Wheeler and Trevor Nummela hung flags along Cloquet Avenue and Avenue C in the West End before Memorial Day.
Some of the graves can be difficult to find.
The military groups were assisted by members of the Cloquet High School baseball team, including coach Stu Sorenson, who helped direct the baseball players as they looked for veterans' gravesites at Cloquet's Maple Grove Cemetery.
Cemeteries and cities across the county and the country sprouted flags and flowers last week in preparation for Memorial Day.
Originally known as Decoration Day when it was observed following the Civil War, Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Although parades were canceled this year due to the pandemic, citizens and organizations still marked the occasion, while maintaining social distance for the most part.
On Saturday, the Cloquet Combined Honor Guard along with American Legion, VFW and DAV members and auxiliary members visited a number of local cemeteries to place flags on veterans' graves, in some cases using tools to uncover stones mostly covered with encroaching grass. Friends and family members joined them.
