Despite cancelation of events, Washington City family stands along street to honor veterans

ST. GEORGE — Though Veterans Day activities in Washington City were canceled in the wake of the governor’s emergency order earlier this week, it didn’t stop one family from honoring veterans their own way Wednesday.

L-R: Danielle Button and her 15-year-old daughter, Mckenna, stand along Telegraph Street in front of Veterans Park in Washington City holding up signs honoring veterans for Veterans Day, Washington City, Nov. 11, 2020 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Motorists passing Veterans Park on Telegraph Street in Washington City occasionally honked or waved at Danielle Button and her three children as they stood along the roadside and held up signs thanking military veterans for their service.

Signs they held up read: “Thank U veterans,” “We love our veterans” and “God bless our veterans.”

In a normal year, the family would have been a part of a large crowd lining the street for a Veterans Day parade. However, that and related festivities were canceled due to Gov. Gary Herbert’s emergency COVID-19 order issued Sunday night.

In addition to a two-week-long statewide mask mandate, the order pulled the plug on large social gatherings for the time being as well.

Despite that, Button and her children chose to publicly observe Veterans Day.

“The veterans did a lot for us,” Button said. “They’ve done things I’ve not been able to do myself, and they’re willing to give up their lives to do it. So we should honor them.”

Button added she felt it was important to observe the holiday despite the cancellation of activities due to COVID-19, and worried that the pandemic was causing state and local government to cancel public observance of holidays that have special meaning.

L-R Danielle Button, along with her children, Mckenna, Lincoln and Avary, stands along Telegraph Street in front of Veterans Park in Washington City holding up signs honoring veterans for Veterans Day, Washington City, Nov. 11, 2020 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“We’re out here because they seem to be canceling things that celebrate the important stuff,” Button said.

Halloween – a day when social distancing is difficult – was allowed to take place, yet going to a Veterans Day parade where people could stand apart from each other was not, she said.

Those at a higher risk for the virus should protect themselves and allow the rest of society to continue on as normal as possible, Button said, adding she was in a high-risk category due to personal health issues. Her own family mainly stays home and her children are home-schooled to help mitigate spreading the virus on their end, she said.

The family arrived at Veterans Park at 3:30 p.m. and had been there for about an hour by the time they spoke to St. George News.

“It’s an important day and we need to honor our veterans as we would any other day,” 15-year-old Mckenna Button said. “We’ve been honked at and we’ve waved at and cheered at. It’s all to honor our veterans, and it’s pretty exciting to see how many people care about our veterans.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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