By Meg Hibbert
Contributing Writer
Veterans and first responders will be remembered in the second annual Field of Honor in front of American Legion Post 3 on Apperson Drive in Salem.
The opening ceremony with “Taps” will be this Saturday at 11 a.m. in front of the American Legion.
Members of the Rotary Club of Salem are offering people the opportunity to sponsor American flags in memory and honor of people special to them during the lighted display that will fly Nov. 1-15.
Sponsorships range from $50 for an individual hero’s flag, to $250 for three flags, $1,000 for 10 flags, to $2,500 for 25 flags and $5,000 for 50 flags. Contact the club at 540-580-1739, or at Field of Honor Salem Rotary Club, P.O.Box 5, Salem, VA 24153.
Club members hope to have twice as many flags. Last year there were 200.
Rotary Club members, friends and members of American Legion Post 3 got together after lunch at the Legion Hall on Oct. 16 to assemble poles and flags for the Field of Honor. The lunch was catered by Roanoke College.
American Legion Post 3 Financial Officer Dave Yates told Rotarians some of the projects the Post sponsors throughout the year.
“We assist veterans in need, do Bingo at the Veterans Medical Center, provide movie nights for veterans at the Davis and McDaniel Veterans Care Center (formerly Virginia Veterans Care Center) and place 2,200 flags on veterans’ graves on Nov. 8 for Veterans Day,” Yates said.
He added Post members and the Post’s Auxiliary help at the Community Christmas Store, sponsor a high school oratorio contest, sponsor students a Scout Troop from Cave Spring and provide a Halloween party for special needs students.
The Rotary Club of Salem got the Field of Honor idea from the Rotary Club of Forest which has done a Field of Honor for several years. The Forest club’s project grew to more than 1,000 flags.
Money from the project goes to the club’s scholarship fund for high school students heading to college and other higher education
In the past, people sponsored flags in memory or honor of veterans and current members of the military, in addition to first responders including police, fire and rescue members. Certain levels of sponsorship such as businesses will have their logos on the Rotary Club website and on social media.
