On Monday, America will honor and remember the men and women who died while serving our country. This weekend, to recognize that sacrifice and honor the city's history, one group in Longmont is helping reconnect families for a final farewell.
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Mountain View Cemetery in Longmont. CBS
From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday through Monday, the Longmont Genealogical Society will be volunteering at the Mountain View Cemetery and the Foothills Gardens of Memory to help people find their loved one's final resting place.
Eldon Mickelson is the president of the Longmont Genealogical Society, explaining, "There are a number of those people here that we like to remember and honor."
To do that, Mickleson and his co-president Margaret Lindblom will be going through the thousands of names, collected over hundreds of hours, in order to connect people with their history.
"The majority of those early residents were indeed civil war veterans. So they were... the founding fathers... for this community," Lindblom said.
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Longmont Genealogical Society CBS
The society has been coming back to this cemetery every Memorial Day weekend for decades and plans to continue to do so, rain or shine.
"We do it for one or we do it for 100, we feel gratified in either case," he said.
And in Mickelson's case, after 20 years in the U.S. Air Force– and with friends in this cemetery, it hits close to home.
"It's a chance to remember and honor those who have served and may have fallen, given their all in defense of our nation," Mickelson said.
And this weekend, they will work to help everyone remember the true reason behind the holiday.
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Mountain View Cemetery in Longmont CBS
"It's not just today to go fishing or have a barbecue. There is a heritage and a history as to why the date exists, and I like to help foster that and instill it in current and future generations," Mickelson said.
Sarah Horbacewicz
Sarah Horbacewicz is a multi-skilled journalist for CBS News Colorado. Read her latest reports or check out her bio and send her an email.