This Memorial Day weekend, almost two dozen restaurants throughout Webster and the Greater Rochester area are joining an effort to honor and remember veterans who never made it back home.
It’s a project called “White Tables Across America.” In each participating restaurant, a single, small, empty table is tucked in an area apart from the main dining area. It’s set for one, symbolizing that someone is missing from our lives — a fallen service member, POW or MIA.
The table is covered with a white tablecloth, signifying the purity of the service member’s emotions when answering the call to serve. In addition to a normal table setting, on top of the table are placed:
- a single red rose, symbolizing the blood shed to ensure America’s freedom
- a yellow ribbon tied around the vase, representing a demand for proper accounting of those who are not with us today
- a lemon slice, reminding us of a captured soldier’s bitter fate
- a black napkin, representing the sorrow of captivity
- grains of salt on the plate, representing the countless fallen tears of families as they wait
- an inverted glass, because they can’t toast with us
- a white candle, for the hope that all our missing will return someday.
Finally, an empty chair is placed next to the table, a seat that remains unclaimed. Fully arranged, the table is a simple, yet powerful symbol of remembrance, each element representing the physical and emotional burden of a soldier’s absence.
These small memorials — also known as Fallen Comrade Tables or Missing Man Tables — can often be found at various military facilities, museums, veterans’ agencies, public events and civic spaces. Here in Rochester, though, the effort has become more organized, thanks to the efforts of Brockport resident Sarah Fisher and her five-year old son Brax.
Sarah explained how she decided to get involved.
Last Memorial Day, I felt it was the right time to begin having age-appropriate conversations with Brax about the true meaning behind our federal military holidays. Memorial Day is more than a day off from school or a holiday picnic. It is a day to remember and honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
As part of a Memorial Day homeschool lesson plan I created for Brax, we set up a symbolic POW/MIA White Table in our home. Afterward, I thought: why not bring this tribute into our community? That would offer patrons a safe place to pause, reflect, and hold fallen service members and their families in their hearts.
So she reached out to several west-side restaurants to see if they’d be interested in hosting a table, and ultimately set up three White Tables last Memorial Day, then five on Veterans Day. That number grew even larger this year, with 21 restaurants participating across the Rochester area. Here in Webster/Penfield, those include the Mary Wee Pub, Proietti’s, Cobblestone on Main and Flaherty’s. Even if they were a bit short on space, they made room for a table.
At the Mary Wee, for example, Mark Petzing noted, “We don’t have a lot of space here, but we’ll make room for their table. Because some things are more important.”
Sarah calls their mission White Tables Across Rochester, and she hopes to continue adding more restaurants every year. Beyond the restaurant displays themselves, Sarah’s also developed mini-homeschool lesson kits tailored for children of different ages. Participating families are paired with a local establishment to help set up their display to generalize their learning and give back to the military community.
“Our hope is to encourage meaningful conversations, foster community involvement, and help younger generations better understand the sacrifices made by our service members and their families,” she said.
Sarah and Brax spent the last few days delivering the White Table kits and setting them up at each of the 21 restaurants. (Brax insists on doing the setup all by himself.) Keep an eye out for them when you’re out and about this weekend, and pause for a moment to remember our fallen and missing service members.
Finally, Sarah shared this touching story:
Yesterday, after completing one of our White Table setups, we noticed a $20 bill left beneath the wine glass. … (I) learned that it can symbolize a quiet act of gratitude and generosity, almost like a toast to those who served and sacrificed. It felt incredibly touching to witness such a meaningful gesture and to see our community coming together in support of honoring our fallen service members. That’s what it’s all about!
If you know of a restaurant interested in becoming part of the White Tables Across Rochester effort next Memorial Day, email Sarah at ssegal11@yahoo.com.
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(posted 5/23/2026)
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