"By Memorial Day every (veteran's) grave should have a flag," said Upper Leacock Township War Memorial Association (ULTWMA) board member Lin Pickel. Pickel, with help from fellow trustees Tim and Donna Bills, Nancy George, and Bob and Barb Zook, makes sure deceased veterans who are interred in the Conestoga Valley area are honored and remembered on the May holiday each year.
A few weeks prior to the placement activities, Pickel picks up the 450 American flags she orders for the graves at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center in Manheim. During COVID-19 restrictions, distributors at the center employed a production-line system, lining up vehicles and placing flags in trunks and hatchbacks to keep the pickup safe. Pickel noted that the streamlined process worked so efficiently that it is still in place.
Once the flags are in hand, the ULTWMA members take them to designated cemeteries to be placed. Pickel places 170 flags at the Salem Hellers Evangelical Reformed Church with help from her grandchildren and neighbors. George oversees the work at the Zion Lutheran Church cemetery and Trumbauer Memorial Cemetery with help from members of local Boy and Girl Scout troops. The Bills place flags at Eby's Cemetery at Monterey Chapel and the cemetery at Stumptown Mennonite Church. The Zooks, with help from their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, place flags at the Bareville Union Cemetery on Brethren Church Road. The Zooks have made the task a family ritual, and their grandchildren, Gavin and Joelle, who are now teenagers, have been helping to place flags since they were toddlers.
ULTWMA is a nonprofit, volunteer organization located at 54 W. Main St., Leola. ULTWMA organizes and hosts community events that honor the military service of all local residents. Readers who would like to learn more about the organization may search for "Upper Leacock Township War Memorial Association" on Facebook.
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