Here's where to see parades and other Memorial Day ceremonies

On Monday, our nation marks a day of remembrance for all those who died in service to our country — Memorial Day.

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday through an act of Congress in 1971, and its roots date back to the Civil War era, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Here is a list of ceremonies, services and parades being held around Somerset County this Memorial Day.

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Lambertsville

The 155th consecutive Memorial Day Service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday in the Lambertsville Cemetery.

The scheduled guest speaker is Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, who serves as the 57th director of Army staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. He has a long career serving his country all over the world and in many combat operations. He has written two books on his experiences in Afghanistan.

Hannah Mitchell will recite “In Flanders Fields” and Lennon Bobby will recite the “Gettysburg Address.” Both are recipients of the eighth-grade American Legion Award.

The Memorial Day Service will include music by the Shanksville Stonycreek High School Band, under the direction of Dawn Fassnacht. The Honor Guard from the Shanksville-Stonycreek American Legion Post 911 will provide graveside rites.

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Stoystown

The Stoystown Legion and Lions Club will host a Memorial Day parade starting at 1:30 p.m. at Deaner Funeral Home. The parade will be live-streamed on the Deaner Funeral Home Facebook page.

Parade line-up is 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. at the top of the hill west of Stoystown. Please enter from Route 30 below Rullo Auction Service. Marching units should enter off Route 30 by NAPA Auto Parts. Main Street will be closed during the parade.

The Rev. Larry Weigle, of Reading Grace Brethren Church, will give the invocation. Jessica Spangler, of Stoystown, will be the soloist. Keynote speaker will be Susan Steltzer.

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New Centerville

The New Centerville Memorial Day service will begin at 11 a.m. at the Union Cemetery. The Rev. Keith Grim will give the keynote address. He is the pastor of Mount Zion Hay's United Church of Christ in Brothersvalley Township. Andrea Falchek will perform. In case of rain the service will be moved to the New Centerville Church of God.

Shanksville

Patriot Park will host a Memorial Day ceremony at 3 p.m. Sunday at the park along Route 30. Performers include the Central City American Legion/VFW Honor Guard, Neil Hoffman, Bellwood Community Choir, Earl Granville and Robert Sembower.

Also in Shanksville, the Shanksville American Legion Post 911 Memorial Day Service will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at the Shanksville picnic grove. The service will include a featured speaker and the Shanksville High School band playing patriotic songs. Shankville eighth-grade students will be citing the Gettysburg Address and Flanders Fields. Adjutant Gary Hiler as Post 911 spokesman, and the American Legion Post 911 Honor Guard will be performing.

Windber

Windber VFW Post 4795 and members of the local churches will place flags at the gravesites of military veterans around Windber cemeteries in preparation for Memorial Day. Windber will celebrate Memorial Day with a parade at 10 a.m. Services will follow in Windber Veterans Park.

This year’s guest speaker is Sarah Hamilton, a homeschooled high school junior who was born in Johnstown, and lived in Richland with her three siblings and her parents, Ron and Robin Hamilton.

Jenners

A rededication ceremony for the newly-updated Jenner Community Veterans Honor Roll will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Jenner Rod & Gun Club, 5154 Front St., Jenners. In addition, the ceremony will honor two Purple Heart veterans and feature Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar, the Somerset County commissioners and the Somerset Honor Guard.

Somerset

Memorial Day will be observed at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Somerset County Courthouse in a ceremony sponsored by the Somerset Memorial Day Committee.

A parade will follow immediately after the ceremony.

The ceremony will include patriotic readings, speakers, musical selections and the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the County’s war monuments.

This year’s guest speaker will be Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt. Piatt enlisted in the Army in 1979 after graduating from Somerset Area High School. Piatt served in numerous positions all over the world including tours in Korea, Panama, Hawaii, Alaska and Germany. He completed several operational deployments to include Suriname, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and published two books from his experience in Afghanistan.

A flag will be presented posthumously to Master Sgt. John Chapman, a member of a special forces team of Army Rangers and Navy Seals, who died under heavy enemy fire in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002. Killed while attempting to rescue a fellow American soldier who had toppled from a Chinook helicopter onto the Mountain Takur Ghar during Operation Anaconda. Chapman has been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. Although a native of Connecticut, Sgt. Chapman’s wife and family are from Windber, where he is interred at St. Mary’s Byzantine Church. His mother-in-law, Mrs. Rita Novak of Windber, will receive the flag.

During the observance, the Somerset County Honor Guard and Rifle Squad will present the colors and perform a 21-gun salute following the traditional wreath-laying ceremony. The Rev. Brenda Shaffer of the Grace United Methodist Church of Somerset will offer the invocation and benediction. The Somerset Area High School Band and the Somerset Community Band, and the Somerset Area High School Choral Ensemble, will perform patriotic musical and vocal selections.

Somerset Troop #131, Cub Scout Pack #131, and Friedens Troop #152 of the Boy Scouts of America will raise the colors and conduct the flag-folding ceremony and presentation. Somerset Girl Scout Troop #52906 will assist with program distribution and participate in the ceremony.

Meyersdale

A Memorial Day celebration will be held at dusk on Sunday at the Paul Fuller Playground in Meyersdale.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County, PA Memorial Day 2023 events