Uncertainty around how long the shutdown would last and the ability to access certain assets led the organizers at the Texas National Cemetery Foundation to the decision.
By Anna Butler
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
A letter from the Texas National Cemetery Foundation Inc. said it was “necessary” to cancel the annual Veterans Day program at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery due to the government shutdown. The event was set to take place on the Veterans Day holiday on Nov. 11.
In a letter dated Oct. 28, the foundation, which has coordinated the Veterans Day event at the region’s national cemetery annually for more than 20 years, said “many of the assets, resources, support, staff, equipment and the availability of the cemetery” were “in doubt.”
Gary Poplin, chairman and director of operations of the Texas National Cemetery Foundation, told WFAA-TV he “couldn’t make this event happen even if you gave me a blank check,” due to the lack of time to plan.
The letter, which was posted to the foundation’s website, said the Oct. 28 date was selected to cancel the event as the foundation had “reached the point in time of no return.”
“We have guests with airline tickets who must address that financial issue,” the letter said. “We have sponsors who must stop volunteer food orders since we will not be putting the flags up and of course taking them down, as well as holding the hot dog event after the folding of the flags.”
Poplin told WFAA-TV he was unable to confirm access to a military color guard, a military band and the use of flags and flagpoles, among other items.
“There were not going to be any porta-potties,” Poplin said to WFAA-TV, “and once I got there I said this decision is really, really, really easy.”
Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery was dedicated in 2000 and is located at 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway in Dallas.
More information on what has and has not been impacted by the government shutdown at the Department of Veterans Affairs is available on the department’s website.
Note: While this event has been canceled, there are other Veterans Day events taking place across Dallas-Fort Worth.
Anna Butler is food and events editor. She previously covered commercial real estate for The Dallas Morning News and served as managing editor of the Dallas Business Journal. Anna is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the International Culinary Center, formerly the French Culinary Institute. A seventh generation Texan, she grew up in Austin.
