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Thursday, Dec. 21, is the shortest day and longest night of the year.

To mark the occasion of winter solstice, a group of advocates for the homeless will make their annual journey to the Coyner Springs Cemetery.

There, they will stand in solidarity to read aloud the names of the homeless and formerly homeless who have died in the previous year and are buried at Coyner Springs.

Mary Berger. Joann Triana. Ethel Hurd. Lois Huffman. Mark Flint. Harold Boardley. John Brown Jr. Donald Shepard. Robert Frye.

When we call people by their name, even in death, we call forth the dignity and value of who they are in life.

"Since 1990," according to Carol Tuning, Roanoke's human services coordinator, "the Roanoke Valley Task Force on Homelessness has joined with the National Coalition for the Homeless to sponsor a National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day."

As organizer of the memorial service, Tuning said "this service brings attention to the tragedy of homelessness and allows an opportunity for agencies and organizations to recommit to the task of ending homelessness."

The cemetery is nestled down Coyner Springs Road, just off U.S. 460. The Task Force on Homelessness held its first memorial service there on Dec. 21, 2000.

During that year, Lesha VanBuren began her work as record keeper for the cemetery. VanBuren coordinates efforts between the city of Roanoke and funeral homes to prepare for burials.

"This is something special for the homeless community," said VanBuren. "It gives them a proper, respectful resting place."

"For the families," noted VanBuren, "this provides some peace of mind to know their loved ones are in a cemetery setting."

The cemetery is a place of solitude, peace and beauty. It is also the resting place for close to 1,500 people since 1960.

Gene Harrison. Mario Castillo. Alna Underwood. Elbert Clarke. Jimmy Sawyers. Franklin Robertson. John Gordon Sr. Douglas Craighead. Nancy Nichols.

As more names are called, those who have gone before will be remembered.

This year's service, according to Tuning, will be a "moving" memorial service. Those gathered will move throughout the cemetery, gathering first at a shelter provided by Oakey's.

Then, all will move to each of three monuments erected in the cemetery to commemorate the resting place of bodies moved to Coyner Springs from the City Farm, City and Old Lick cemeteries in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Tuning hopes the service, beginning at 10 a.m., will "help us focus on positive change for those who still live in shelters or in the streets without a place to call home."

The last portion of the service will lead participants to the place of most recent burials, perhaps the roughest terrain of the cemetery.

Through the efforts of a newly formed beautification task force, Tuning hopes to increase awareness about the importance of the cemetery.

"We hope to add a new monument remembering those who have recently died, place an encased remembrance book with each person's name and enhance the cemetery with additional landscaping and meditation benches," said Tuning.

Buford Buckland Jr. Eddie Mullins. Shirley Wallace. Suzanne Matthews. Robert Agee. Frank Marek. John Wood. Rebecca Carter. Michael Flanagan.

Each person is special. In the cold of winter, gather with others to remember the difference we can make in one another's lives.

For more information on the National Homeless Persons' Memorial Service, contact Carol Tuning at 853-1721.