THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240555
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TRIANGLE LENGTH: 43 lines
Donations to spruce up Quantico National Cemetery have poured in after news reports that the harsh winter had destroyed much of the cemetery's vegetation and nearly one-third of its flag poles.
Cemetery director Pat Novak said the Potomac Region Veterans Council had received at least $5,000 as of Thursday.
``It's overwhelmed us,'' she said. ``We just didn't realize so many people would care and would want to help.''
The donations are enough to purchase 65 flag poles, Novak said. Winter storms rusted or bent 125 of the cemetery's 350 flag poles, which line the park's ``Avenue of Honor.''
Novak said a Virginia Beach civics teacher evidently saw the story in a local newspaper and showed it to her class of seventh- and eighth-graders. Within a few days, the class had raised enough money to purchase two poles, Novak said.
A flag pole costs $75.
Not all the poles will be up in time for Memorial Day, but they should be in place by Veterans Day on Nov. 11, Novak said. PRVC officials are considering buying sturdier ones that can better resist strong winds, she said.
The cemetery also has received help in purchasing and planting flowers to replace plants destroyed by cold temperatures and hungry deer. Many people and Boy Scout troops have called, eager to plant bulbs that will beautify the cemetery, Novak said.
``That's exactly what we need,'' cemetery volunteer Bette Begley said. ``Somebody to call in and say, `What do you need done?' Volunteers are critical.''
Quantico National Cemetery and Culpeper National Cemetery are the only two open veterans' cemeteries in Virginia, Novak said. About 10,000 people are interred at Quantico, which mainly serves veterans from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. MEMO: Anyone wishing to donate should send a check to the Potomac Region
Veterans Council, P.O. Box 1882 Dale City, Va. 22193, or call the
cemetery at 1-703-221-2183. by CNB