The City of Niles, the American Legion Post 26 and Friends of Silverbrook Cemetery are working together to provide a new way of honoring veterans buried in Silverbrook Cemetery.
In 1992, the Legion sponsored a fundraiser and families donated to place individual white flagpoles to line the entrance drive and veterans’ section of the cemetery. Post 26 has provided flags for each pole yearly for the Memorial Day Parade. Weather and time have taken their toll, however, and many of the poles are rusted, bent, falling down or the rope and pulley systems no longer work.
The Friends of Silverbrook, with the blessing of Post 26 and the city, would like to replace these poles with six larger poles that would fly the five service flags and the POW flag. They would be installed in front of the mausoleum, where the parade ceremonies are held each year. The new, larger, thicker flagpoles will hopefully withstand wind and weather for many years to come.
Martin’s Super Markets and Pepsico have donated the first $500 toward this project. Another $2,500 is needed to purchase all six poles. To help, a tax exempt donation can be mailed to Friends of Silverbrook Cemetery, P.O. Box 215, Niles, MI 49120. Make a notation on the check that the donation is for the flagpole project, and the money will be used for that purpose.