By Matt de Simone
With Memorial Day approaching, Sirens & Salutes—a local organization that honors fallen heroes—continues giving back to the community. This time of year presents the organization with several projects and annual tasks that need completing by Memorial Day, when Sirens & Salutes and members of the Botetourt community work to ensure the sacrifices of military veterans, police officers, and emergency workers are remembered.
The organization’s co-founder Bill Price was recently made trustee of the Amsterdam Cemetery in Daleville, which was originally established in 1877. He’s spent the last few weeks clearing out a lot of the vegetation and installing a flagpole with a solar spotlight which can be seen when driving along Roanoke Road (Route 220, on the corner of Amsterdam Road and Greenfield Street).
“You couldn’t see any of this when we first started,” Price said about the work done for the cemetery. “The trees were right to the ground. You couldn’t even see the stones.”
Work began around the end of March and Price thinks he’ll continue work over the next several weeks. Over the last few weeks, Price and others have uncovered gravestones that date back well over 100 years. Last weekend, Price and helpers took to weed-eating and spraying to better clear a lot of the overgrown weeds that have spiraled throughout the cemetery grounds.
The wrought iron fence surrounding the plots was made from by the Eagle Iron Company that was based in Tennessee during the late 19th century.
Several of the individuals buried at Amsterdam have damage to their headstones that Sirens & Salutes plan to repair. Recently, the organization purchased memorial stones for former police officers from the Roanoke area to be placed at the Amsterdam and Fairview cemeteries.
This weekend, the Buchanan Theatre will hold special movie screenings, free of charge, of the 2009 war drama “Taking Chance” starring Kevin Bacon. Showtimes begin this Friday, May 24, at 7 p.m., continuing with another 7 p.m. showing this Saturday, and concluding with a third showing at 3 p.m. Sunday. Sirens & Salutes annually sponsors a free film played each Memorial Day weekend in Buchanan.
Sirens & Salutes will be placing memorial flags on the graves of veterans in Fairview Cemetery in Buchanan next Saturday at noon, and picking up those flags at the same time the following Tuesday. The organization has ordered 160 military flags and plans to line the fence of the cemetery this weekend.
On Memorial Day Monday, there will be a special 11 a.m. Memorial Day service at Fairview followed by a lunch at Solomon’s Mission at noon. After that, Price and others will then travel out to Carrington Place for a special Memorial Day service for the veterans at the center.
Later this summer, July 20, Sirens & Salutes and Quilts of Valor will hold an awards ceremony honoring local veterans at the Buchanan Community Center, presenting quilts to several members of the Botetourt community.
For more information about Sirens & Salutes, visit sirensandsalutes.org.
