On May 25, the third annual Parrish Elks Lodge #2889 Memorial Day ceremony was held at the Parrish Cemetery. There were more than 75 people in attendance, including 25 lodge members, four members of the Parrish Cemetery Association Board of Directors, more than 13 Parrish Boy Scout Troop leaders and members, and family and friends of veterans buried at the cemetery. Frank Loviglio, Lodge Veterans Services Chair and trustee, led the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the national anthem. Sharon Atkins, chaplain, wrote and recited the invocation and benediction. Retired Air Force Colonel Richard Tatem was again the guest speaker and surprised attendees by introducing Sarasota's retired Air Force Captain Terry Gruters. Terry Gruters is the younger brother of retired Air Force Captain Guy Gruters, whose plane was shot down in Vietnam and he spent five years in a POW camp. Terry was actively involved as an Air Force pilot during the December 1972 Linebacker II air raids, which were instrumental in bringing North Vietnamese forces to the negotiating table and ultimately freeing his brother and other POWs. Terry told stories of fellow Americans who lost their lives in war and said that those are the ones who should be remembered today. He then gave all who wanted one a CD titled “Surviving with God in a Communist POW Camp” by Captain Guy Gruters. It relates the experiences of his capture and shares a unique message of how his faith and hope sustained him. A.J. Parmer, Boy Scout senior patrol leader, read what the POW/MIA Remembrance table is about, and Patricia Knight read the “Remembrance Poem.” Family members of veterans then placed 8" x 12" American stick flags into the more than 100 blue PVC pipes at the veterans’ gravesites. Other attendees then placed flags at the remaining veterans’ gravesites.
Pictured are lodge members and members of the scout troop.