The Freedom Valley Chronicles:
Memorial Day
Part Two
May 27, 2018
Tomorrow – Monday, May 28th – is Memorial Day.
For most people, it’s a day off from work.
Some will be at the Shore. Others will have traveled to the Mountains. Many will stay at home to be with friends and family. At backyard barbeques. At picnics. To relax.
A few will remember what this holiday recalls.
Memorial Day is a holiday to remember the men and women who have died and who served our country as members of the military of the United States of America.
The amazing thing about most people is we have the ability – if we choose to use that ability – to do more than one thing in any given day. We can go to work and stop at the grocery store on the way home. We can go to religious services and then go out to eat brunch with our family. We can cut the grass and still have time to go dancing later that night.
The opportunities will be there tomorrow – Memorial Day – for you to use your ability to do more than one thing on that day.
Ceremonies will be held in all of the area communities in this section of the Freedom Valley, including in Conshohocken, Lower Merion, Plymouth, Upper Merion, West Conshohocken, and Whitemarsh.
The Conshohocken Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1074 is coordinating a number of activities to honor the men and women who have died and who served in the United States military.
The schedule for Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday, May 28th in the Conshohocken area is as follows:
8:20 AM - Memorial services at Calvary Cemetery.
8:40 AM - Memorial services at Gulph (Gulf) Christian Church Cemetery.
9:15 AM - Parade from George Clay Fire Company to Front Street.
9:30 AM - Memorial services at West Conshohocken Memorial.
10:00 AM - Memorial services at St. Benedict Cemetery.
10:30 AM - Memorial services at St. Matthew Cemetery (North Lane and Butler Pike).
11:00 AM - Memorial services at (Old) St. Matthew Cemetery (Fayette Street).
11:15 AM - Parade from 4th Avenue to 2nd Avenue.
11:30 AM - Memorial service at The Conshohocken Veterans Memorial (2nd Avenue and Fayette Street).
12:00 Noon - Memorial service at VFW Post 1074 (300 E 5th Avenue).
Mr. Walter Hartnett, Commander of the Conshohocken Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1074,
pictured to the left, and Mr. Dwight Young, Chaplain of the Post, pictured to the right,
will be among those speaking at Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday. Both
Mr. Hartnett and Mr. Young were among dozens of people who helped place
American flags during this Memorial Day Weekend at the graves of men and women
who served our country in the armed forces of the United States of America.
This day is a day to remember those military veterans who have died.
You are invited to join with your neighbors to pay your respects to these men and women.
As you see the thousands of American flags, provided by the Montgomery County Veterans Affairs Department, flying in these cemeteries and at these memorials, please remember those who wore the uniform of our country.
Some had been drafted into the military. Some joined the armed forces as volunteers.
All put their country ahead of themselves.
Calvary Cemetery on Matsonford Road in Lower Merion is the
first stop on the schedule for Memorial Day ceremonies in
the Conshohocken area on Monday.
Credits:
The photographs of the leaders of the Conshohocken Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1074 are courtesy of the Post, 2018.
The photograph of Calvary Cemetery is courtesy of Google, 2012.
Do you have questions about local history? A street name? A building?
Your questions may be used in a future news article.
Contact Richard McDonough at freedomvalleychronicles@gmail.com.
© 2018 Richard McDonough