Memorial Day tributes planned

A host of Memorial Day tributes are planned for Monday.

In Sandpoint, Memorial Day services at Pinecrest Cemetery will begin at 9 a.m., followed by a tribute at 11 a.m. at Lakeview Cemetery. Honors will be rendered by the Marine Corps League honors detail. Speaking at both ceremonies will be Brigadier Gen. Bryan Hult, who is the county's Veterans Services officer.

Friends, family and especially veterans are invited to attend the annual Memorial Day service at Seneacquoteen Cemetery. The cemetery is located nine miles from Highway 95 on W. Dufort Road.

Services begin at 8 a.m. sharp with the Priest River Veterans of Foreign Wars post rising the flag.

A 21-gun salute will follow to pay tribute to all veterans who died in service of the nation.

The Priest River VFW also will host a ceremony at the Priest River Cemetery at 10 a.m.

Clark Fork veterans will host a ceremony at the Clark Fork Cemetery at 10 a.m., with a ceremony at the Hope Cemetery following at 10:45 a.m.  

The Sandpoint VFW will host a Memorial Day brunch from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Sandpoint VFW post, 1325 Pine St. The brunch is open to the public and all are welcome for a free breakfast burrito with potatoes, brownies and drinks.

"We hope to see a lot of folks there," Sandpoint VFW Post Commander Ken Hunt said.

Memorial Day is thought to have originated in June 1861 when the residents of Warrenton, Virginia, went out and laid flowers on the graves of loved ones lost in a Civil War battle. A few years later, after the battle of Gettysburg, similar tributes were made in the North, beginning a longstanding tradition where on May 30, where the country pauses to pay homage to those who died in service to their country.

Somber tributes, the posts would march the local cemeteries to decorate the graves of the fallen. The simple and subdued services would offer prayers, short, patriotic speeches and music before ending in a rifle salute.