Scouts from local Troops 18, 235 and 540 and Pack 30 braved the pouring rain on May 23 to place flags on the graves of veterans buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Vinton in advance of Memorial Day. Troops 18 and 235 are based in Vinton. Troop 540 and Pack 30 meet in Chamblissburg.

Mountain View Cemetery donated over 1,000 flags which the Scouts, their leaders, and some family members placed on the graves of veterans that they located by walking the grounds and reading the grave markers.

The flag observance at Mountain View is becoming an annual tradition for the Scouts for Memorial Day. This is the second year the individual troops have gathered as a group for the activity.

Mountain View is part of the Evergreen Memorial Trust family.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday always observed on the last Monday in May and originated as Decoration Day after the Civil War in 1868.

Scouts throughout the Great Valley District will be gathering at the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center at 6:30 p.m. on May 25 to participate in a Flag Retirement Ceremony in remembrance of Memorial Day.