Memorial Day ceremonies held at Cheboygan’s Festival Square, Washington Park

CHEBOYGAN – Memorial Day is huge in Northern Michigan, especially Cheboygan, where several events took place in the morning and early afternoon on Monday.

Among those was a Memorial Day ceremony held at Festival Square, which started at 10 a.m. On hand for the event were several speakers who took the time to honor and remember the names of the soldiers and sailors from Cheboygan County missing or killed in action. The speakers included Greg Ellis, Phil Oppenheiser, Michael Donovan, Tracy Heath and Dan McPherson.

Also present was the Cheboygan High School Band Brass Quintet, which played the Star Spangled Banner and honored each military branch with an anthem during the ceremony. The Cheboygan group included Nick Chase, Veda Socolovitch, Ally Godin, Tyler Rousseau, Simon Easter and Lauren Richey.

The main speaker for the ceremony was Command Sgt. Major Dale Clarmont, while Pastor John Wallace and keynote speaker Kurt Martens also spoke to the crowd on hand at Festival Square.

Following the event at Festival Square, many made their way over to Washington Park for events hosted by the Cheboygan Chamber of Commerce. There was a wreath laying ceremony, a rifle volley, and taps being played by Cheboygan’s High School Band Brass Quintet. There was also a veterans remembrance walk.

The same events were held at Veterans Memorial Park, while the last event of the day took place at Pine Hill Cemetery, which held a rifle volley, taps, and a flag raising ceremony.

Before the events at Festival Square, two different rival volleys were held at St. Francis Cemetery and Mt. Calvary Cemetery.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Memorial Day ceremonies held at Cheboygan’s Festival Square, Washington Park