Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
The legacy of veterans and the impacts they leave in their communities will be illustrated Monday at the Clovis and Portales Memorial Day events, according to the speakers.
Clovis’ celebration, jointly organized by the city’s Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts, will begin at 10 a.m. at Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens, according to American Legion Post 25 Second Vice Commander Randy Lopez.
The event, which will count Congressman Ben Ray Lujan and State American Legion Commander David Stevens among its guests, will “show tribute to the lost veterans that we’ve had and the veterans themselves that have kept this country the way it is today,” according to Lopez.
Stevens will be delivering the Memorial Day address, and said his speech will focus on the day’s true meaning.
“Too many people think it means the beginning of summer. We like for people just to maybe relax a little bit and have a few moments, at least, to remember the reason that they can go out and enjoy their vacations, to turn it into a little more of a solemn day than a picnic day,” he said.
Stevens said he will also be talking about the meaning of Memorial Day as it relates to the loved ones of fallen veterans.
“What happens to the parents? What happens to the mother? What happens to the father, the sister, the wife, the brothers?” he asked.
Portales’ service will take place at 10:30 a.m. at the Portales Cemetery, and will make clear the sacrifices of local veterans, according to speaker Michael Woolley.
Woolley, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, plans to provide guests with a history of veterans in Roosevelt County from World War I to today’s conflicts.
He said it’s important to him to show that sacrifices have been made by men and women from the area.
“They see it on the news, but when you look out and you see all those veterans out there on the marked graves, you look at those, and those are World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam vets, and that’s the reason it’s important to talk about that,” he said.
