Welcome to another alumni edition of the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin. We got a little off kilter in 2010 and didn’t get an alumni edition put together as we should have. Hopefully we are back on track and ready to keep you updated on the news and happenings in your hometown. The Peabody Main Street Association and Hoch Publishing Company are responsible for bringing you the alumni editions. If you know of a PHS or PBHS graduate who is not getting them, please let us know. There is no charge and all we need is a current mailing address.
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The fourth annual Operation Celebration event to honor our veterans — especially those from World War II — will take place again during Memorial Day weekend. Be sure to check the Peabody website at http://www.peabodyks.com and look over the schedule of events for the weekend. Or see Peabody Main Street Association on Facebook for activities and the new blog for Operation Celebration. PMSA would love to have you “like” them.
There is plenty to see and do during Operation Celebration beginning May 28 in Santa Fe Park at breakfast with Rosie the Riveter and Doyle Valley Farmers Market. Lunch will be served 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the Siege on Peabody by the WWII re-enactors will take place downtown at 3 p.m. Kansas author Joann Emerick will sign copies of her book about a WWII bombardment squadron at Jackrabbit Hollow at 4 p.m., followed by the state’s largest Victory Parade honoring area veterans. At 6 p.m., the Puttin’ On the Ritz dinner and concert will be on the Marshall Auction lawn across from Santa Fe Park.
Ongoing events include the Vault of Treasures, Veterans’ Roll Call, Walking Tours, and the re-enactors’ encampment. And that is just May 28. Come join us — we’d love to have you.
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I have had additional photos of veterans delivered for the Veterans’ Roll Call window display downtown. There still is time to include your veteran’s photo if you get it to me this week. The display was a popular stop during the celebration in 2010, with clusters of veterans, visitors, and returning alumni looking for faces of men and women they once knew.
The veterans need not be from Peabody. We have photos of grandparents and aunts, uncles, dads, cousins, and siblings from all over the country. If they are connected to you and you live here or did once, they deserve a spot in our window. While this celebration was created to honor our World War II veterans, we include all vets — from the civil war to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan.
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Be sure to visit Prairie Lawn Cemetery and view the Avenue of Flags. This display is an impressive one, installed annually by members of the American Legion Post 95. Each flag is installed in memory of a local veteran who is buried at Prairie Lawn. At night, each flag in the display is lighted and the sight is more moving than you can imagine. The display is funded solely by donations. Legion members begin installing the poles and lighting the week before Memorial Day weekend and the lights will be on May 27 through May 30. Be sure to drive out to the cemetery to see it. You will be glad you did.
We hope to see many of you back home for the upcoming holiday. We also hope you enjoy receiving this edition of the newspaper and hope you find something in this edition that reminds of your time here. Please stay connected and let us know if you change your address. We want the next edition to find you.
— Susan Marshall