Across the United States, Memorial Day is observed to commemorate the heroes who died serving the country. In Clermont, our fallen heroes have been solemnly recognized at Oak Hill Cemetary by the Kiwanis Club of Clermont. Early Saturday morning, club members arrived at Oak Hill Cemetary to begin placing flags on the graves of fallen heroes,
Memorial Day – 2020 The Kiwanis Club of Clermont placed flags on the graves of our fallen heroes at Oak Hill Cemetary, Clermont
Posted by South Lake Tablet on Sunday, May 24, 2020
Kiwanis Club of Clermont President Chuck Seaver described the history of the flag program at the Clermont cemetery. “It started approximately 40 years ago, when my grandfather Oakley Seaver and his sister, Nelle Seaver, began walking the cemetery and placing flags on the resting places of veterans. Alone, they created the original map used for locating veterans for the flag placements”.
As the program grew, Oakley, a longtime Clermont Kiwanian, asked the club to take the program over. Since that time, the club has placed flags on the veterans’ final resting place annually on Veterans Day and Memorial Day. The flags are left in place for a period of one week. “I took the program over in 2018 and since then we have included first responders into the program as they are such an important part of keeping our community safe”, explained Seaver. “Many of the first responders recognized were actually volunteer positions for the city’s fire department back when the entire department was made up of volunteers”.
“This year, a total of 434 flags were placed on graves by the Kiwanians; an unfortunate increase from 419 placed last September for Veterans Day”, noted Seaver.
Eighteen club members traversed the cemetery to begin the task of placing the flags: Thom Battisto, Del Brandt, Cleam Caple, Jim Eishelman, Trish Gardner, Bobby Holmes, Janet Hoskinson, Joan Kyle, Kassie Murray, Corey Odom, Tawanda Odom, Chuck Seaver, Sherry Seaver, Gene Thomas, Andria Waite, Eucretia Waite, Olivia Waite, Nello Woodhouse,
Due to the COID-19 stay at home restrictions, Saturday was the first time the group has met and had the opportunity to present their annual, “Kiwanis of Clermont Community Service Award”.
This year, the award was presented to Del Brandt for his volunteer hours provided to the community this past year. Del is in charge of our Light Up project, which includes the annual holiday decorations around Center Lake at Christmas.
Del was honored to receive the award though concerned that the club hasn’t been able to fundraise due to the pandemic and hoping that the Club will receive the needed contributions to make this year’s Center Lake project a success.
To learn more about the Kiwanis Club of Clermont, visit https://www.kiwanisclubofclermont.org
