By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
Several Memorial Day observances and related activities are scheduled in the area during the Memorial Day weekend and holiday.
A Memorial Day service will commence at 11 a.m. Monday at Veterans Memorial Park on East Third Street in Washington.
The service is sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 48, and the DAV Auxiliary, Unit 48. In the event of rain, the service will be conducted at American Legion Post 15, which is off Market Street Extension.
A parade in Cypress Landing is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Monday, said Betsy Coles, who helped organized the event.
The parade starts on the road in front of the clubhouse at the Cypress Landing golf course, traverses Cypress Landing Trail, makes a right turn onto Potomac Drive and ends at the Bay Club, where a short program is scheduled before a picnic begins.
Coles said the parade will include, but not be limited to, the Army JROTC color guard from Washington High School, five Word War II veterans riding in convertibles behind the color guard, other veterans behind them and a walkie-talkie group on foot.
As part of the Aurora Fossil Festival, a breakfast honoring all veterans is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at the new S.W. Snowden School’s cafeteria. A presentation concerning veterans is slated for noon at the festival’s main stage.
The origin of Memorial Day is somewhat murky, but the reason for it is crystal clear: Women’s groups in the South were decorating graves of Confederate soldiers before the end of the Civil War.
According to the Web site www.memorialday.com, “Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:
“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.”
Several towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day.