Event-filled Memorial Day in Pocatello

As is the case each year, the last Monday in May is an event-filled day of remembrance and, in some cases, celebration and fun.

Around 11 a.m. Monday morning, Pocatellan’s had the opportunity to visit the historic Brady Chapel which opens to the public each Memorial Day.

“As soon as people see that door open, they congregate, they just love to see the inside,” Terri Neu of the Pocatello Historic Preservation Commission said.

For nearly two decades, Memorial Day has given Pocatellan’s a chance to take a look inside the Brady Chapel at Mountain View Cemetery.

Dedicated to former Idaho Governor James Brady on Memorial Day in 1922, the chapel has only been open a handful of times in the last 40 years.

Neu said she loves to see it open.

“I think that this is what it was supposed to be,” she said. “Some people think that it was supposed to be very somber and I don’t believe so. It was made as a memorial to Mr. Brady.”

On the other side of town, riders from as far away as Nevada and Montana gathered at Pocatello Downs for the annual Memorial Day races only to have them canceled by weather.

A major let down for vendors and organizers.

“We had our maiden frolic trials, that was worth $20,000, so a lot of horsemen were really excited to run for that money and unfortunately, like a lot of years, mother nature did not help us out and our track conditions just weren’t safe we decided to just cancel,” Downs President LuKrena Schoonover said.

But the weather didn’t seem to impact the masses at Century High School that went to walk the Idaho Field of Heroes. Closing out its 14th year, the field is currently filled with nearly 7,000 crosses.

Last week, when that total was closer to 3,000, Hiedi Young explained why she took part.

“I just, I love my country, I love those that serve it and it’s just an honor to be able to be here to do this,” she explained. “There are a few individuals out here that I knew personally and so it’s kind of my way of giving back to them.”

The Field of Heroes is hosting a closing ceremony Monday at 6 p.m.