A Blue Star Memorial will be dedicated at the City of Yakima Tahoma Cemetery, 1802 Tahoma Avenue, on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11th.
It will be placed near the veterans section of Tahoma Cemetery to honor all men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Services.
The Blue Star Memorial dedication will take place at 11:00 am on Wednesday. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, with social-distancing protocols required. Those attending are asked to use the cemetery’s South 24th Avenue entrance.
Two West Valley Middle School students will lead the ceremony in a flag salute. The West Valley School District Junior ROTC will present the colors.
The Central District of Washington State Federation of Garden Clubs (WSFGC) initiated the effort for a marker and ceremony, and purchased the Blue Star Memorial. The Yakima City Council approved the memorial in March.
During the dedication ceremony, VFW Post 379 Commander Shadrick Kautzman will accept the Blue Star marker from WSFGC District Director Diane Franchini.
This will be the first Blue Star marker in the city of Yakima.
The Blue & Gold Star Memorials Program honors all men and women who have served in the United States Armed Services. This program began with the planting of 8,000 Dogwood trees by the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs in 1944 as a living memorial to veterans of World War II.
In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs adopted this program and began a Blue Star Highway system that covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii with metal Blue Star Memorial Highway Markers.
Click https://www.yakimawa.gov/services/cemetery/ for more about Tahoma Cemetery.
Click https://gardenclub.org/blue-and-gold-star-memorials for more about the Blue & Gold Star program.