There are people that give of themselves unselfishly in the pursuit of helping others. Whether it is time served as a volunteer or helping to raise funds for a cause, these individuals work tirelessly to give of themselves so that others can feel good about themselves. The rewards aren’t of a monetary nature, but rather the feeling one receives when they know that they have been able to positively affect the life of another person. Even rarer is seeing a group of individuals banding together to share a common goal to help others that gave so much in the pursuit of life and liberty. That group is the employees of the London Bridge Resort.
The idea was so simple, yet elegant—a way to pay tribute to the hundreds of dedicated men and women that gave their lives to support their country. Many wars have been fought in the name of freedom and many of the liberties afforded U.S. citizens today are in place because of the bravery and heroism of those dedicated to protecting those liberties. Many of them paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave up their lives to defend those freedoms.
The idea was brought to life by Tom Flatley, the owner of the London Bridge Resort in Lake Havasu City. Wanting to honor the veterans that gave their lives over the years, Tom set out to make sure that they weren’t forgotten by developing a program that placed flower arrangements on the graves of those service men and women that are no longer with us. Now in its eight year, the program has been a rousing success.
Employees of the London Bridge Resort and their families gather together to place arrangements on all of the grave sites of veterans buried there. In collaboration with Jerome Miratsky, owner of the local cemetery, plans were initially made to estimate the number of veterans in the cemetery. During the 2013 Memorial Day tribute, the group of volunteers met at the Havasu Memorial Gardens cemetery on Deer Run Drive and placed over 750 arrangements on the site of every person who served in the armed services.
During the holidays the group places live evergreen wreaths at all of the grave sites keeping veterans and their accomplishments on the minds of everyone on a year round basis. Tom Flatley makes the arrangements to purchase the arrangements and the volunteers dedicate their time to show that while gone, these veterans are never forgotten. Collectively, the group of dedicated employees of the London Bridge Resort are truly Hearts of Havasu.