LUSK – A small crowd of veterans gathered for a Memorial Day service honoring the fallen servicemen and servicewomen of Niobrara County on May 26.

The Lusk Elks B.O.P. #1797, DOES Drove #64, American Legion Post #1, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and VFW Auxiliary joined forces to host the Memorial Day service. John Barrette, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, made a two-hour drive to play the piano for the moving ceremony. He ended the service by playing “Taps.”

VFW Commander Ed Tirado addressed the audience. Tirado stated that 4-H kids helped to place 600 American Flags at the graves of veterans at the Lusk Cemetery. 

“This whole weekend activity took a lot of help and coordination,” said Tirado. “It started two months ago when we started to coordinate with all of the organizations to make sure that today is the day. The real work started Friday afternoon at 4:30. A group of volunteers, 4-H members and a couple of VFW members placed 600 flags in the Lusk Cemetery. We want to thank them for that.”

The local DOES Drove performed their annual flag ceremony during the celebration. The Elks gave a brief presentation concerning the fallen and the grave of the unknown soldier. Poppies were handed out. Attendees had the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for a homemade wreath designed by Sandi Richardson. The announcement of the winner for the wreath will be made in November during the LEMS annual Veteran’s Day.