Thursday, May 25th, 2017
Local Memorial Day services set
From staff reports
Local communities plan to honor Memorial Day with ceremonies. Events begin Friday in Fort Recovery.
A list of events follows:
Coldwater
Memorial Day observances in Coldwater will begin Monday with an 8:30 a.m. service at United Methodist Church. Services will follow at 10 a.m. at Coldwater Memorial Park under the direction of the Coldwater Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. The high school band will play and mayor Joe Knapschaefer will give an address. Members of the Legion, VFW and their auxiliaries will place wreaths on the memorial. Afterwards the Legion and VFW will go to several local cemeteries and perform services to honor buried veterans.
Celina
Memorial Day observances in Celina will be held on Monday beginning with a 7 a.m. breakfast for participants at the Celina American Legion. Services will follow at 11 a.m. at Lakeshore Park's memorial site. Mercer County Veterans Service Commissioner Bob Howell will welcome the crowd and provide commentary. The Celina High School band will perform the national anthem and "Taps." Pastor Mark Wakeland will give an invocation and benediction. Members of the Celina VFW and American Legion auxiliaries will place wreaths at the memorial. A salute to deceased veterans will be conducted.
Other participants are color guards, the Mercer County Firefighters Association and the American Legion and Ladies Auxiliary. Lunch will be served to participants and their families following the services at the Celina American Legion.
Memorial Day also will be observed at Mercer Memory Gardens on Monday. The group will assemble at 10 a.m. The speaker will be Celina Law Director George Moore. Area auxiliaries will present wreaths.
Rockford
Rockford will celebrate Memorial Day on Monday with a parade, a special speaker and a chicken dinner.
The Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. and end at the Rockford American Legion.
The speaker will be retired U.S. Army Maj. Mike Pontius, who graduated from Parkway High School in 1973 and West Point in 1980. The American Legion will host a chicken dinner. Tickets are presale and may be purchased at the Legion hall, Barry's Family Market and Rockford Carry Out.
Fort Recovery
Memorial Day activities, organized by Fort Recovery American Legion Post 345 and VFW Post 6515 officials, will begin at 7 p.m. Friday night with a short ceremony on the North Wayne Street bridge followed by a parade from the bridge to Monument Park.
At 7:30 p.m., Tom Lein-inger, VFW District 2 commander, will give a short speech at Monument Park. The high school band will play and the honor guard will fire and play "Taps."
On May 28, after the usual 10 a.m. Mass, a memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. in St. Peter Cemetery. The public is invited to attend both events.
St. Henry and Burkettsville
Memorial Day Mass will be held on Monday at 9 a.m. at St. Henry Catholic Church. That will be the only Mass that day. After Mass the St. Henry Legion and the high school marching band will conduct memorial services at St. Henry Cemetery. The Legion and band then will host a service at St. Bernard Cemetery.
Minster
VFW Post 6432 and American Legion Post 387 will host Memorial Day services at 10 a.m. Sunday at St. Augustine Catholic Church. A service honoring deceased veterans will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at St. Augustine. Music will be provided by the Minster High School band and the St. Augustine choir. A 21-gun salute will follow the service. The public is invited. A dinner will follow for all veterans, their wives, widows and families as well as the choir.
Mendon
Memorial Day services will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday with units assembling at the park before marching to the river. The invocation will be given by Pastor Rob Glenn. Flowers will be cast into the river followed by a gun volley for deceased veterans, and "Taps" will be played by a representative of the Parkway High School band.
The group will reassemble and march to the park, where the band will perform the national anthem and mayor John Boroff will introduce the speaker, Brandon Baker. Wreaths will be laid by the VFW and American Legion auxiliaries. Also participating will be color guards from American Legion Post 210, VFW Post 5713, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 783, all of Celina. Also scheduled to take part are Girl and Boy Scout members.
A breakfast will be held at Mendon United Methodist Church from 7-11 a.m. Free will donations will go to the youth group.
St. Marys
The St. Marys American Legion Post 323 will host a parade at 9:30 a.m. Monday. Lineup will be in the Chestnut Street parking lot. The parade will move along Spring and Wayne streets and Greenville Road and end at Elmgrove Cemetery.
After the parade, services will be held at the cemetery. Music will be provided by the Memorial High School band. Speakers will be students Brooke Yahl and Cadin Vrandon, mayor Patrick McGowan, American Legion Post Commander Justin Arnold and a representative of the Legion auxiliary. Featured speaker will be the Rev. Ed Bray of St. Paul's United Church of Christ.
Chickasaw
Memorial Day services will take place at 9 a.m. Monday at Precious Blood church. After ceremonies at the cemetery, a meal will be prepared by the Chickasaw VFW.
