Looking Back: Nostalgia

 by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society

             
This week I thought I would write about a typical Grain Valley Summer in the 1950s, and then I remembered that before I sat down at the computer I was going to go to the Grain Valley and Blue Springs cemeteries to water the flowers. And that is how this week’s article came to be! Hopefully it will spark some pleasant memories for you.
 
I imagine that most of you who read this column are “older” like me and can relate to my memories of Memorial Day. My grandmother always referred to it as Decoration Day, from the early tradition of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags. Begun during the Civil War, Decoration Day was for remembrance of those who have died in service to our country. For decades, it was observed on May 30th, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day, presumably because flowers would be in bloom throughout the nation.
 
The name "Memorial Day", which was first attested in 1882, gradually became more common than "Decoration Day" after World War II but was not declared the official name by federal law until 1967. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees.
 
Many things come to mind when I think about the day. First and foremost, it meant school had ended for the summer! It also meant a picnic with lots of great food Sometimes we gathered at someone’s house. Sometimes it was just family, but usually some friends were included.
 
But before the “fun” began, there was the serious side. We would visit the family graves at the Blue Springs Cemetery and the Herrington (later called Grain Valley) Cemetery. In those days, everyone took fresh cut flowers. The planning began several days in advance when large tin cans or fruit jars were assembled to hold the flowers. They were covered with aluminum foil and often a ribbon or bow was tied around the container. People actually kept bows from funeral flowers to use on the jars!
 
Flowers were gathered for a few days prior to Decoration Day. Peonies were picked as buds and placed in the refrigerator, either in a container of water, or the stems were wrapped in damp towels and placed in the “crisper” drawer along with the veggies! There were iris and spirea, and daisies and roses. Did anyone else use asparagus fern for greenery?  When the day arrived we all took our flowers to my grandparent’s house where arrangements were made and put in wooden crates for the trip to the cemeteries.
 
Once we arrived, in a two-car caravan we had to find a place to park. Unlike today when families take flowers all weekend, in those days we only went on Decoration Day so parking was sometimes at a premium. Remember, the flowers were “fresh” and would probably only last one or two days. We all got out of the cars,  placed the flowers around on the various graves and them we stood around a talked for a while.  Not unlike visitations and funerals today, Decoration Day was almost a social event.  We often saw folks we hadn’t seen in a year, not since last year at the cemetery.
 
My mother once said she didn’t care if there was only one flower on her grave, it had better be alive. I’ve never forgotten how she felt, so NO artificial flowers as long as I’m able to place a live one there. Even at Christmas, the wreaths are fresh greens. I took planters with live, growing plants on Friday. I have returned twice to water them. As large as the cemetery is in Blue Springs, I’ve only cited one live bouquet of roses. They were beautiful, many shades of reds, pinks and yellow, hand-picked and arranged in a quart fruit jar filled with water! So far, the Grain Valley Cemetery, while colorfully decorated, is all artificial flowers except my Rumbo grandparents.
 
It was nice to see both cemeteries filled with American flags blowing gently in the breeze.

Butterfly Park & Veteran’s Memorial
 
On the way home I stopped to walk over to the memorial at Butterfly Park. Several families were there.  I told myself they were there to pay respect to our veterans and not just out walking on a beautiful day. Regardless, it was a great day to sit down on one of the benches and be thankful to live in Grain Valley, Missouri -- the Heart of America!