The annual Memorial Day festivities have been planned for both Cardington and Fulton for Monday, May 27.
Memorial Day morning will feature a parade and program at the cemetery in Fulton. The parade will step off at 9:45 a.m. with the Cardington-Lincoln High School Marching Band, under the direction of John Brehm, playing patriotic tunes along with local veterans displaying the country’s colors.
The program begins at approximately 10 a.m. with Mayor Terri Hickman opening up the ceremony. The American flag will be raised by the Sons of the American Legion from Post 97 with the band playing the national anthem. This will be following the “Pledge of Allegiance” from Michele Bronson, invocation given by Jeanie Stephens of the Vineyard Church of Morrow County, the reading of General Logan’s Orders No. 11 from Heather Bronson, and the reading of the “Gettysburg Address” by AJ Brehm.
The main address will be given by Sgt. Maj. Richard J. Miller, formerly of Mount Gilead. Miller served in the United States Navy Reserve and the Ohio National Guard in many roles, and he retired with 34 years of service. Closing out the ceremony will be the playing of “Taps” by a member of the marching band, the 21-gun salute by the honor guard of the Cardington American Legion, and the benediction given by Mike James from the Balm of Gilead Church.
Later that day, Cardington’s Memorial Day festivities will kick off with the parade leaving the American Legion Park at 1 p.m. Led by the Cardington-Lincoln High School Marching Band, the route will turn right on Main Street, left onto Gilead Street, and enter through the backside of Glendale Cemetery. The parade features not only the band, but a riderless horse, bagpiper, and several marchers that will be bearing placards with names of WWII veterans from the area.
The program will start at approximately 1:30 p.m. by the Cardington Civil War Soldiers Monument in the center of the graveyard where Christopher Conant, a former sergeant for the United States Army, will be the featured speaker.
Quinn Maceyko is a correspondent for the Morrow County Sentinel.
