Contributed photo
Aliva Buhr shows off her 4-H honorable mention placing of the cemetery project to help her Uncle Dale Huwe with relatives Benjamin and Owen.

Do you see the flags dotted across cemeteries on Memorial Day and wonder who does that? Memorial Day is observed every year “to mourn and honor its deceased service men and women.”  

To honor the deceased service men and women an American flag is placed on their graves. This task is done by various service groups across America. Locally the task is done by Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) members or other service groups.

The Wolf Lake VFW has been in charge of many cemeteries in their  area. This past Memorial Day, Dale Huwe who has done the task for many years with the assistance of other veterans was having health issues and was unable to complete the task. 

His great niece and nephews who are 4-H members of the Height-of-Land 69er’s 4-H club decided to step up to the task. 

Benjamin Buhr places flags at the veteran’s graves at Spruce Grove Union Cemetery this past Memorial Day in the absence of his uncle created a need for Benjamin and his fellow 4-H relatives to take over the project.

In 4-H citizenship is stressed. Citizenship means contributing to the world around you and giving service to others. Learn how to solve problems in a community and how to take action in a positive way. Be the change you wish to see in the world. 

That is exactly what Aliva, Benjamin and Owen Buhr did. They placed flags on each deceased veteran’s grave at Spruce Grove Union Cemetery this past Memorial Day. They learned of the different wars that the veterans were in by the markers on their graves.

They also presented this service as a Citizenship project at the Becker County Fair in July. They received an Honorable Mention placing.

Owen Buhr poses by the Spruce Grove Union cemetery sign while decorating fallen veterans’ graves with relatives Benjamin and Aliva this past Memorial Day.