Memorial Day will be observed on Monday. Weather permitting, the day will begin with a parade forming at Washington Square at 9 a.m. The parade will step off at 9:30 a.m. and head toward Oakwood Cemetery where the program will begin at10 a.m. at the Lemert Memorial.
The parade marshal this year will be WW II veteran Harold Eppley.
Assistant parade marshals are all current and honorably discharged veterans.
This year’s master of ceremonies will be Robert “Bob” Laipply, Jr. Bob is an Army veteran serving from 1968-1970, stationed at Fort Clayton’s Corozal Area, in the U.S. Panama Canal Zone. As an Airborne Infantryman, Bob’s assigned duties were as a military policeman serving Tropical Test Site and staffing security patrols for the Southern Command Headquarters. Bob achieved the rank of Sergeant E-5 before being honorably discharged from active duty in May of 1970.
Father Paul Fahrbach Holy Trinity Church will give the invocation and benediction.
This year’s keynote speaker is Richard Eugene Johnson, a 1964 graduate from Wynford High School. Because of his interest in the sciences of mechanical and electrical equipment he went into the Army Security Agency right out of high school. He served 9 months in telecommunications training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, then18 months in Ethiopia and 18 months in California to complete the four-year enlistment.
The Bucyrus High School Marching Band will play the National Anthem. General John A. Logan’s General Order No. 11, designating May 30 as the day to remember our nation’s war dead, will be read by Bucyrus High School graduate Ethan Huff. Fellow BHS graduate Madalyn Kimmel will recite President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
The Bucyrus Middle School Marching Band will play “Hail Columbia.” The Salute to the Dead will be presented by the Bucyrus Veterans Honor Guard, followed by the playing of “Taps” by Jayda Pickens, and “The Echo” by Jenna Ashley.
The program will be broadcast later in the day on the WQEL, WBCO, and Crawford County Now Facebook pages. Any veteran who would like to be in the parade is welcome to participate. Members of Moose Lodge 669 will have vehicles available to drive those veterans in need. Area Scout troops are invited to participate in the parade. Those interested should meet at Washington Square at 9 a.m.
This week members of the Veterans Memorial Society have placed more than 3,500 flags on the graves of veterans in Bucyrus and surrounding township cemeteries.
Remember to fly your flag every day if possible, but especially on holidays. Remember also that the proper way to display the flag on Memorial Day is to fly it at half-staff until noon and then back to full-staff after noon.
American Legion Post 181, 123 E. Rensselaer St., Bucyrus, will have a hog roast after the services from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. This meal is free to all honorably discharged and active duty veterans, though family and friends may join for a freewill donation.