Volunteers and Unusual Hawaiian Visit Take Center Stage at Veterans Memorial Cemeteries

Volunteers are providing significant support at both the Northern and Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemeteries. Their help and assistance are not going unnoticed. Their work is providing much needed hands-on labor at a time when to this kind of help is hard to find.

At the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Superintendent Chris Naylor and his staff are expressing sincere gratitude to the Black Mountain and Lake Mead Stakes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Just Serve organization.

Mr. Naylor said it was wonderful to see 300 plus volunteers all working together to give their time and lend their efforts to the veteran’s community to clean and beautify the Boulder City cemetery. He estimates the volunteers put in some 1,000-man-hours of service in just one morning alone!

Similar sentiments were echoed by Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery Supervisor Gabe Velazquez. He said he was “wowed” by the volunteers from the City of Reno, Arbor Pros, Noah’s Park Tree Care, and Stewardship Horticultural. He said they trimmed trees as well as removed both problematic and dead trees! Additionally, the volunteers provided their knowledge and expertise on caring and maintaining the trees and shrubbery at the cemetery to keep it beautiful and well-manicured. This year is the second year these experts have volunteered their services at the Fernley cemetery during an event known as the” Salute to the Branches.”

Coincidentally, all that extra grooming came in handy. In mid-October, Mr. Velazquez was quite honored and surprised to receive a visit from members of the Hawaii Funeral and Cemetery Association. The visitors had been attending a conference in Reno and wanted to see the grounds in Fernley for themselves. Mr. Velazquez said he was thrilled to pose for photos with the group and to meet and chat with the visitors for about a half-hour.