Ceremonies to mark Memorial Day

Boulder City will have several ways residents and visitors can celebrate Memorial Day this year.

On Saturday morning, May 26, volunteers are needed at the Boulder City Cemetery and Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery to help place American flags at veterans’ graves.

Those who want to help decorate the graves at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1900 Veterans Memorial Drive, should arrive no later than 7 a.m. and meet in the courtyard.

Later that morning at 9, volunteers can join with the American Legion, Post 31, and American Auxiliary Unit 31 to decorate the graves of the veterans buried at the Boulder City Cemetery, 501 Adams Blvd. Refreshments will be served.

Sunday, May 27, will feature the Vietnam Vets-Legacy Vets Motorcycle Club’s annual Fly Your Flags Over Hoover Dam Run. The 2½-mile-long procession will start at 10 a.m. on the Arizona side of the dam and continue to the veterans cemetery for a short ceremony in the garden memorial area.

On Monday, May 28, the legion will host a Memorial Day service at the cemetery at 9 a.m. The speaker will be Boulder City Councilman Kiernan McManus. The program will be in the grassy area by the American flag.

Additionally, the legion and auxiliary will observe Poppy Day, selling the traditional red flowers Friday, May 25, at various locations in the city.

At 1 p.m. Monday, May 28, the Nevada Department of Veterans Services will host a Memorial Day ceremony at the chapel at the veterans cemetery. Keynote speakers will be NDVS Director Katherine Miller and U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ed Giron.

During the ceremony, there will be a special recognition of veterans, Blue Star mothers and Gold Star parents. The program will also include pipers, a 21-gun salute and the national anthem sung by Phil Esser. The ceremony will end with a flyover by the Boulder City Veterans Pilot Group, which will fly in the missing man formation.

After the program ends, volunteers are needed to help retrieve the flags from the graves.

Also on Monday, May 28, area residents are asked to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. to observe the National Moment of Remembrance, which was established by Congress to show an act of national unity and remember the country’s fallen veterans.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.