Bill Wade, Post-Gazette photos Homewood Cemetery workers Jim Cush and Joe Kelly right a toppled grave marker. Click photo for larger image. Memorial Day Stories: Memorial Day: Holiday is year's busiest for cemeteries From canned eggs to fresh lobster, local veterans have seen it all

On a hillside in Homewood Cemetery, crew chief and groundskeeper Mike Joyce inches a backhoe to the edge of the road. Two other crew members, dressed in yellow wet-weather gear, attach a leather strap to a winch, slowly hoisting a headstone into place. A caulk-like substance, known as monument setting compound, is inserted between the marker and the headstone to keep it secured.

In a different lot, crews are trimming trees and removing debris, filling in graves and planting zonal geraniums, marigolds, black dragons and other colorful flowers.

Over the past few months, groundskeepers across the region and nation have worked to prepare for this weekend's Memorial Day visitation. It's the single biggest occasion of the year, bigger than Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries, for people to set aside time to visit the final resting places of the deceased.

You won't find turnstiles or ticket-takers or statisticians at graveyards, but cemetery operators, groundskeepers and regular visitors all say the same thing: Memorial Day is a time of remembrance both in thought and deed, and the devoted turn out en masse to prove the point.

The colors of Memorial Day are red, white and blue. Across the region, Boy Scout troops have decorated the graves of soldiers with ankle-high American flags.

In neighborhoods, towns and cities, flags will be flown at half-staff and thousands of veterans will march in parades.

At Arlington National Cemetery, a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and other ceremonies are expected to attract more than 50,000 people.

Lori Calvillo, public affairs officer at Arlington, said more than 224,000 small American flags had been placed throughout the grounds for what she called a "Flags In" ceremony.

"This is definitely our busiest time of year," Ms. Calvillo said. "We get more visitors during the Memorial Day weekend than we do on Veterans Day."

Homewood Cemetery worker John Harmon trims around grave markers by hand on a recent rainy day, when the weather had sidelined mowers for the day. Click photo for larger image.

Pittsburgh, too, will see thousands of visitors pass through the gates of cemeteries.

It's a day spent reflecting on loved ones or paying homage to veterans who lost their lives in combat.

"I think the most important thing is we don't forget," said William J. Cammarata, of Sewickley, who was a first lieutenant in the Army during Vietnam.

"We can argue the politics of our national policy and the appropriateness of going to war, and that is as it should be. As citizens, we have a responsibility to question the decisions of government that put out military in harm's way.

"But that aside, on Memorial Day, it's appropriate and just that we remember those who have fallen and those who have served, particularly at a time when so many of our young men and women are serving."

When Barry Novosel, commander of American Legion Post 80 in the North Hills, thinks of Memorial Day, he is reminded of some of the stories his grandfather told him about serving in the military during World War II.

"I think about those that gave some, or all, to get us to the freedom we are currently experiencing," Mr. Novosel said.

Joseph Populo, 81, who served in the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II, is one of the oldest members of American Legion Post 618 in McKees Rocks. Memorial Day is special to him because it's the day he's able to "recognize his loved ones."

In the days leading up to Memorial Day, Mr. Populo said, the gravesite of every veteran at Mount Calvary and St. Mary's cemeteries in Kennedy are cleaned, markers are installed and a small American flag placed in the ground.

"Years ago, we used to put geraniums on each grave, but that became too expensive," said Mr. Populo, who also is responsible for maintaining six veteran memorials. "It means a lot for me to take care of those who have gone by."

Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, remembers those who have died in service of their country. It was organized during the Civil War by women's groups who decorated the graves of the Confederate war dead with flowers, wreaths and flags.

Mt. Lebanon's Greg Daubner, his wife and son, George,4, routinely visit the burial sites of relatives in the days leading up to Memorial Day. They follow a regimen of sorts. "We go to each grave and wash each tombstone, plant flowers and clip weeds," he said.

"My grandmother was a [devout] Catholic, and that's what she did. She believed in honoring all the family. That's what she wanted and expected, and I'm honored to do it. I'm going to teach my son to do it. It's the circle of life. That's the way I do things."

Julie Cocchiola and her family regularly visit cemeteries, but they've learned to avoid the crowds during Memorial Day weekend.

"I think the only time my father ever had an accident was on Memorial Day," Ms. Cocchiola said with a chuckle. "We were in the cemetery and someone backed into my father's car."

At least once a month, Ms. Cocchiola and her four sisters, six nephews and one niece spend the day at Calvary Cemetery in Hazelwood, checking on the grave sites of family members.

"After our mother died, we used to go once a week to make sure everything was all right," recalled Ms. Cocchiola, who lives in Observatory Hill. "Visiting the grave sites of family members was a big thing for my mother. She would tell us stories about family members, and we're trying to pass that tradition on to the children. We are big cemetery people, and we want the children to respect that tradition."

At Homewood Cemetery in Point Breeze, Bill Howard, vice president of sales, said 10,000 people were expected to pass through the gates over the weekend. Preparing for the influx of visitors has changed over the years.

"As a kid, I remember packing the car with a lawn mower, shovels, paint and other supplies and having to go to the cemetery and do the work ourselves," Mr. Howard said. "Now most cemeteries offer perpetual care."

Even so, preparation for Memorial Day requires many hours of hard work.

During the winter months, crews are unable to address all of the things that need to be done, so from March through May, groundskeepers are working "full throttle" to spruce up the grounds, he said.

The 200-acre Homewood cemetery has roughly 75,000 burial sites.

"For about 10 weeks, we've had about 30 full- and part-time people working 40 hours a week to get the grounds ready," Mr. Howard said. "They're cutting grass, trimming, filling in graves, planting flowers, removing twigs and clearing roads."

At Union Dale on the North Side, Vice President Ronald Deiger said groundskeepers had been working for weeks to prepare for the holiday.

"It's busy around here, and it will remain that way until after Memorial Day," Mr. Deiger said, noting that mowing occurs in a 10-day cycle.

He attributes the larger number of visitors over Memorial Day weekend not just to respect for fallen veterans and family members, but to better weather, which makes the experience more meaningful. "It's the season for planting flowers," he said.

In Bridgeville, officials at the newly christened National Cemetery of the Alleghenies are preparing for their first Memorial Day remembrance. Gerald Vitela, director of the cemetery, said a ceremony was scheduled at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Since the cemetery opened in August, Mr. Vitela said, there have been 412 burials of veterans, spouses and children of veterans. And he doesn't expect a single one to be forgotten.