By Mimi Darley Dutton | [email protected]

For three days in November, in addition to snow blanketing Draper Park, hundreds of American flags also blanketed a portion of the park to commemorate Veterans Day. This year’s event was reimagined from the city’s traditional ceremony that has included speeches and a children’s choir in the past. Instead, in an effort to maintain social distancing and still have an opportunity to show reverence for all those who have served or are currently serving our country, people were invited to walk through and reflect on the day at their leisure. At 11 a.m. each of the three days, a single bagpiper played military anthems and patriotic songs. Barry Skinner, a Draper resident who served with the Army in Germany from 1959-1965, helped place the flags in the field for the event. Skinner is active in the American Legion Post 140 based out of Riverton, and he owns an original army Jeep that he likes to take to local schools to educate children about military service. “Kids have got to be taught about the wars,” he said.