Holiday services outlined
Memorial Day services and parades, and other events honoring deceased military men and women will be held throughout the area. In Fayette County, a service will be held at Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Geneva at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Point Marion Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 747 will conduct military services. The speaker will be the Rev. Scott Teets of the Fallen Timbers Community Chapel.
Also on Saturday, Fairchance will host a parade and service.
The parade begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Shop ‘N Save on West Church Street and proceeds west to the veterans section of the Maple Grove Cemetery, where a service will begin at 3:30 p.m., said Dean Witmarsh, one of the event organizers.
The Alfred Wilson Memorial VFW Post 7219 in Fairchance will conduct a military service and Uniontown’s VFW Post 47 band will perform, Witmarsh said. A firing squad will fire a salute in remembrance of deceased veterans.
The main speaker will be Albert Gallatin Senior High School teacher Wayne Bowers, who was recently selected as one of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce Education Council’s 10 Educators of the Year.
Witmarsh said the Exchange Club is decorating streets with American flags.
Alfred Wilson, for whom the VFW post was named, received a Medal of Honor for his services as a medic in World War II.
“Even though he was wounded, he pulled a lot of guys off the battlefield,” Witmarsh said.
Rides on the Fayette Central Railroad will be available before and after the parade.
On Sunday, Newell’s new honor roll will be dedicated after a parade.
The parade begins at 2 p.m. on Third Street and proceeds to the honor roll on Fourth Street, where the dedication ceremony will be held.
Members of the VFW in Newell and the American Legion in Fayette City will be participating in the parade and ceremony. Refreshments will be served at the fire hall after the ceremony.
On Memorial Day, services and activities will be held in North Union Township, Uniontown, Perryopolis, Smithfield, Masontown, New Salem and Dunbar Borough.
The United War Veterans of Fayette County is holding a service at Sylvan Heights Cemetery on Gallatin Avenue Extension in North Union Township at 10 a.m., said VFW Post 47 Cmdr. Pete Porecca.
“It’s a big thing every year,” Porecca said.
He said veterans will place flags at 2,500 to 3,000 veterans’ graves in the cemetery prior to Memorial Day.
A wreath will be placed at the mausoleum where former national and state VFW commander Joe Vicites is buried.
Veterans from various wars will participate in the service.
The VFW Post 47 band will perform at the service and a ceremony at the “Dough Boy” statue at Five Corners West in Uniontown, which begins between 11 and 11:30 a.m. A rifle squad will salute fallen veterans.
Porecca also said the VFW will have poppies for sale on Thursday and Friday to raise money for disabled veterans. Veterans will be selling poppies at the Shop ‘N Save stores in Cherry Tree Square and on Walnut Hill Road, Giant Eagle, Foodland, Adrian’s Market, the Matthew Drive Wal-Mart and at Five Corners West in Uniontown.
In Uniontown, American Legion Post 51 will place 850 American flags and 50 Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flags along city streets and decorate veterans’ graves in the Oak Lawn and Oak Grove cemeteries.
Legion adjutant Joe T. Joseph said the World War II memorial at the Fayette County Courthouse and the memorial at the corner of Church Street and Gallatin Avenue for the 99 soldiers from Uniontown who never returned from World War II will be decorated.
“They should be honored every day,” Joseph said. “They gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives.”
In Perryopolis, VFW Gold Star Post 7023 and American Legion Post 752 will conduct a service in the Frazier High School auditorium at 10 a.m.
The keynote speaker will be Charles H. Prince of Somerset. He is a past state VFW commander and a decorated World War II and Korean War veteran.
Prince served on the USS Missouri and witnessed the signing of the Japanese surrender that ended World War II on Sept. 2, 1945.
The VFW will present awards to a number of Frazier School District students and the Frazier band will perform patriotic music.
Boy Scout Troop 625, Junior Troop 4078 and Cub Scout Pack 625 will participate in the service.
The service will move to the honor roll, which is adjacent to the school. A wreath will be placed at the honor roll and a rifle squad will salute fallen comrades.
After that service concludes, another service will be held at the honor roll in Layton.
In Masontown, a parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the Parkvale Bank on Main Street. The parade will then proceed to Bowman Street, South Washington Street and end at the Masontown Cemetery, where a Memorial Day service will be held.
Col. Ulysses Winn, who runs the Junior ROTC program at Albert Gallatin Area Senior High School, will be the guest speaker. VFW Post 4584 will participate in the service.
In Dunbar, the Memorial Day parade begins at 10 a.m. at the old school on Connellsville Street and proceeds to the honor roll. The Connellsville Area Junior High School band is performing in the parade.
In Smithfield, the annual Memorial Day parade begins at 2 p.m. on Liberty Street and will be followed by a service at Mount Moriah Cemetery.
In New Salem, American Legion Post 824 and the New Salem Volunteer Fire Department are sponsoring a parade that begins at 10 a.m. on North Mill Street and proceeds to the honor roll, where a service will be conducted.
The guest speaker will be William Rostich. The Raider Dozen Band will play patriotic songs.
The legion’s honor guard will then go to the honor roll in Filbert and hold a ceremony in honor of all fallen veterans.
In Greene County, a service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at Garard’s Fort Cemetery.
The main speaker will be Thomas D. Shumaker, adjutant and past commander of American Legion Post 954 in Jefferson. Shumaker was the 25th District Commander of the year in 1998 and the Pennsylvania Blue Cap of the Year in 1999. He was also a past district commander and adjutant.
The Rev. Erwin “Woody” Wilson, a retired Air Force sergeant, will be the master of ceremonies and offer the invocation and benediction.
The Mapletown Junior/Senior High School band will provide music.
Donald Ray Huggins, a retired E-7 sergeant, will read the honor roll roster.
American Legion Post 440 and VFW Post 3491 will perform military rites.
In Washington County, the American Legion John F. Kennedy Memorial Post in California will begin its annual services beginning at 10:15 a.m. Monday.
Post members and the honor guard will have brief services and gun salutes at the Smallwood honor roll at 10:15 a.m. and at the Coal Center honor roll at 10:30 a.m.
The full Memorial Day program and service will be held at the Liberty Circle honor roll at 11 a.m. The main speaker will be post commander Steve Molish and Mayor Casey Durdines will also attend.
Essay and coloring contest awards will be given to students at California Area Middle School and elementary school students. California Area High School students will play taps and local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will also attend.