Council votes to co-sponsor Memorial ‘Dog’ Day event at Gazebo

My first request of any governing body – except the United States of America which granted me citizenship – was answered on December 12 by the Front Royal Town Council’s unanimous “aye” vote on co-sponsorship of the annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Gazebo.

“The best Christmas gift I’m likely to receive,” I told my journalistic colleague, Roger Bianchini, following Council’s last meeting of 2016.

Vets, dogs and others gather at a past Memorial ‘Dog Day’ event in Front Royal.

I’d invited the Town in a letter to former Town Manager Steve Burke last June to honor our annual tribute to our war dead, and salutation of the “dogs of war” and unexpectedly received a response six months later to make my case to a council work session.  I did, with help from my co-chair Robert MacDougall, and luckily made it on to the final agenda of the present Council where Mayor Tim Darr, retiring Dec. 31, was honored for his many years of service to the community.

The resolution passed smoothly and quickly. I didn’t have the opportunity then to thank Council for its unanimous support of, and dedication to, the memory of our fallen and members’ quick recognition of the “dogs of war” which guard the lives of our military worldwide and are now a forever part of law enforcement at home. I do thank the Mayor and Council members now.

At recent work session Malcolm Barr, speaking, and Co-Chairman Robert McDougall made their case for the Town making its Memorial Day participation official – Council liked what it heard, and is now an official co-sponsor of the five-year-old event.

The Humane Society of Warren County (HSWC) has, like the Air Force Association’s (AFA) local chapter, supported the Memorial Day ceremony for the past five years, and were lately joined by the Rotary Club of Warren County.  Now we have a fourth co-sponsor, the Town of Front Royal.

All of this began in a Main Street wine and cheese bar during “Yappy Hour,” an informal fundraiser for the Wagner Animal Shelter held each Friday evening for exactly two years, and launched by me, a former HSWC president, and the bar/restaurant operator, Christian Failmezger.  In honor of the war dogs, a toast was proclaimed. The following year, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend was dedicated to the “dogs of war” and the crowd overflowed onto the East Main Street sidewalk outside. – And as they say, the rest is history.

Application was made and granted to use the Gazebo for future Memorial Day ceremonies.  We were honored at the first three Gazebo ceremonies by a retired U.S. Marine Corps three-star general, Norman Smith of Blue Mountain and Winchester, followed by Air force Generals Henry (Mack) Hobgood and David Wesley, the past and current presidents of Randolph-Macon Academy.  Mayor Darr participated in the wreath-laying ceremony in each of those years.

The author reads invocation as Mayor Tim Darr and General Norman Smith, retired, present Memorial Day wreath at earlier event.

Next year, on May 29, two Non-Commissioned Officers of the U.S. Air Force will lay the memorial wreath, provided by Fussell Florist, with the new mayor of Front Royal. One of the NCO’s will give the Memorial Day address.  A band from Skyline High School will play and a U.S. Marine Corps reservist will emcee the event.

There’ll be more details closer to the day.  Meanwhile, I will enjoy this Christmas perhaps more than any other – with the knowledge that the Town has honored me, our war dead, and our “dogs of war,” by helping sponsor what has evolved into a popular and moving event.

(Malcolm Barr, Sr. is a contributing writer for the Royal Examiner and has occupied similar positions at Front Royal’s two print newspapers.  He is still a journalist at 83,and a retiree of the federal government. He is a veteran of the Royal Air Force (UK), while his son, Staff Sgt. Malcolm Barr, Jr., is an Iraq veteran who currently serves his country at Langley AFB, Virginia, as an intelligence specialist).