Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer for many of us. If you are a true Montanan, camping, barbecues, and (with all this amaz-ing weather we have been having) boating may very well be part of your weekend.
Many years ago, this was all started for a much deeper purpose that we still honor today, to truly take some time to visit our past loved ones and honor them by visiting their graves, and leaving flowers or some kind of memento to still let them know we miss and love them.
Memorial Day all started out as Decoration Day for the sole purpose of strewing flowers or decorating graves to honor the nation’s fallen Civil War veterans.
The first official celebration was May 30, 1868, and took place at Arlington Cemetery. Gen. James Garfield gave a speech in honor of these fallen veterans to some 5,000 people, who then all participated in decorating each of the approximate 20,000 grave sites at that time.
It became a national holiday in 1971, and officially was moved to the last Monday of May. Since the 1950s, small American flags have been placed at each grave site on the Thursday before Memorial Day in Arlington National Cemetery. Over 4 million people visit Arlington each year. As of the last official count, in January 2012, 400,000 people had been laid to rest at this beautiful cemetery.
For many years, several Southern states refused to celebrate this day because it was originally tied to the Civil War. It wasn’t until after WWI, when the name was changed to Memorial Day, and was extended to honor all Americans who died while fighting for our freedom in this beautiful country we live in, that this holiday became more widely ac-cepted.
At Central, we belong to a Best Practices group for Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical contractors.
In 2012, a wonderful concept began to come alive. Nexstar Legacy Foundation launched a new program, “Troops for Trade.” This is a resource for living military veterans that are entering or currently working in these trades upon leaving the military service to apply for scholarships that will help fund their training.
With the association with this foundation, there are already over 400 companies part of the Nexstar Network that these military veterans will have access to upon completing their training, almost guaranteeing job place-ment, and many times this happens during the training program, with hands on training in our shops. How amazing is that? (www. nexstarlegacyfoundation.org)
Remember the little red poppy. Our Team at Central will be wearing these all next week in honor of the men and women who have served our country.
“The Poppy Program,” became a national program in 1924, and all started by Moina Michael, a secretary, back in 1918. Contact our American Legion posts here in the valley, and have you and your family or team at work join us in honoring all military veterans this next week, and wear your poppies.
The traditional rain showers we are so accustomed to here in the valley for Memo-rial Day will not be showing up this year, so this could be one of the nicest Memorial Day weekends EVER. Get out and enjoy.
And as always, your Comfort is our Central concern. Call us at 756-6656, for all your heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and drain cleaning needs!
A Favorite Marinade: So easy and yummy
1 cup honey
1 cup soy sauce
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced garlic
(My favorite meat for this is flank steak. Mix and marinate over-night, then BBQ to perfection.)
