CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Canandaigua’s Field of Honor display began at St. Mary’s Church in 2016 and after a pause due to the pandemic, volunteers spent the weekend setting up this year’s display to honor community heroes.
“Field of flags, designed to honor veterans, first responders, and for this one also all the hidden heroes throughout the pandemic,” said Daniel Neubecker, one of the volunteers who helped set up the display. “So nurses, doctors, anybody else that might have made a difference.”
Neubecker, a senior at McQuaid Jesuit High School who plans on joining the ROTC, has been volunteering with his family to set up the display since 2016. And for him, this year’s Field of Honor hits even closer to home.
“Both of my parents are veterans, I know people that are veterans and first responders, my sister is a nurse,” Neubecker said. “And it’s a career field I would like to try and get into and I think it’s really important to honor those people.”
This year’s display features 121 flags, each marked to represent a community hero. All of the proceeds from the flag sales will be distributed between Canandaigua Churches in Action and Gleaners Community Kitchen as a way to honor veterans while giving back to the community.
“It’s a really cool way to honor all the veterans and healthcare workers and everybody else in the community that really made a difference during the pandemic,” said Neubecker. “I think it’s really powerful community response. I mean we have 121 flags and its almost filing up this whole entire field here. And I think it’s a really powerful symbol of the support behind the veterans and first responders, doctors and nurses and all those who have helped.”