On Monday, May 26th, the Bay Point Yacht Club held a noteworthy Memorial Day cookout to honor those we have lost in combat. Our new social chair, Sue Sailors, decorated the club with red, white, and blue décor for the occasion, and Commodore Jose organized a meaningful tribute. Denis Eberhart provided music for the event and introduced the first speaker, John Harris. 

John gave a touching speech honoring our fallen veterans and explaining the origin of Memorial Day in Columbus, Mississippi. Susan Eberhart spoke about the importance of courage and patriotism, as well as elaborating on the meaning of Memorial Day. Commodore Jose then introduced Jeff Brooks, a Vietnam veteran, who introduced the video, Angel Flight. Angel Flight is an incredibly moving song about the flights that took fallen soldiers home, in this case, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Commodore Jose shared his experiences with Angel Flights, and Denis Eberhart spoke about his time volunteering to sing at a local memory care hospital before leading the club through God Bless the USA and America the Beautiful. There was hardly a dry eye in the house by the end! The ceremonial part ended with a blessing by Susan Eberhart, who then opened up the food portion of the afternoon. 

Guests enjoyed mingling, feasting, and drinking the remainder of the day. The club provided hot dogs and burgers, while members contributed salads, desserts, and side dishes. We ended up with quite the feast, including crème cakes, lemon cake, brownies, key lime pie, carrot cake, fruits, all sorts of pasta and potato salads, a seven-layer dip, guacamole, and more! 

Overall, it was a meaningful and memorable Memorial Day celebration.