Memorial Day event held at Bella Vista Cemetery

Rachel Dickerson/The Weekly Vista Lois Carlson, left, directs the Ecumenical Church Orchestra (ECHO) in a patriotic song during the Memorial Day observance at Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery on Monday.
Rachel Dickerson/The Weekly Vista Lois Carlson, left, directs the Ecumenical Church Orchestra (ECHO) in a patriotic song during the Memorial Day observance at Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery on Monday.

Bella Vista residents gathered Monday for a Memorial Day observance at Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery.

Patriotic music was provided by Ecumenical Church Orchestra (ECHO), directed by Lois Carlson.

Retired National Guard Major Mark E. Golaway, who is pastor of First Christian Church in Eureka Springs, was the keynote speaker for the event.

He began by discussing memory and the word "remember." He said sometimes a memory is like a Rolodex card that has been put back in the wrong place, and that is when people say they have forgotten something. However, he said, the memory is just misplaced, and the subconscious remembers it later.

He said if to "dismember" is to take something apart into its integral pieces, to "remember" is to bring the pieces back together.

"We gather today to remember," he said.

He referred to men and women who have served in the military and lost their lives in service.

"While our faces grow older in the mirror, theirs are forever young," he said.

Golaway said people should reflect, look back on history books and add to the story. While he values the education system, he said, adults should share their own stories about historical events with children.

"Honor the past in the ears of the future," he said. "Give them an example when they don't know what to do."

Every enlisted person and officer in the military swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, he said, and anyone who calls themselves an American should do the same.

"The Constitution is not just a piece of paper. It's the foundation of our society. It's an honored document. A man in history once said, 'America will never be conquered, but she may give herself away.'"

He encouraged his listeners to vote. He said every veteran he knows does not care how people vote, only that they vote.

He also encouraged the audience to engage.

"This country is unforgivably and woefully divided. We need to do our part to unite America," he said.

He concluded, "Thank you for remembering, thank you for honoring. We remember, not for today alone, but for every day the stars and stripes waves."

Following Golaway's remarks, Douglas Grant, commander of the American Legion Post 341, read the names of all the veterans from this area who have died in the past year, and a bell was rung after each name. Then Bob Warren of the honor guard played "Taps."

Pastor Richard Solberg of Bella Vista Christian Fellowship closed in prayer.

  photo  Rachel Dickerson/The Weekly Vista Bob Warren of the honor guard, pictured amongst an array of American flags, plays "Taps" during the Memorial Day observance at Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery on Monday.