It’s Memorial Day weekend, and it is a time to honor those who served and are no longer with us.
And on Friday morning, team members from the Live! Casino Pittsburgh took time out of their day to plant American flags at the graves of local veterans as a way to say thank you.
On a wind-swept hillside in Hempfield Township, between the markers and the names of the remembered, staff and volunteers from Live! Casino Pittsburgh worked almost in silence, with heads bowed and reverent expressions, as they attempted to plant an American flag next to every interred veteran at the Westmoreland County Memorial Park.
Doug Haniford, the casino’s advertising manager, says that this is Live’s second year doing this initiative. And he says that planting these flags and even cleaning these headstones is something that is very meaningful to the organization’s staff.
“It’s good to get out of the office and get a little exercise,” Haniford said, “but it is for a good cause, and we are helping the memorial park and paying tribute to our veterans.”
Over 4,000 veterans are buried in this cemetery in Westmoreland County. And the Live! Casino employees who came out to volunteer this Friday say that any graves they don’t get to and any flags they don’t get to plant, the Boy Scouts of America will be doing a final sweep on Saturday to make sure everyone is accounted for.
In all, some 30 volunteers over three hours walked the 79-acre park, pausing just long enough to plant a flag of thanks for the Millers, the Tilbrooks, the Andersons, the Moores and everyone else who served.
A thank you for all that they were and a thank you for all that they stood for.
1
20
20
