Several Memorial Day observances to held in Lodi area this weekend
May 23—Memorial Day Weekend is approaching, and there are a variety of events in the Lodi area and surrounding region to attend.
The weekend kicks off Saturday at Cherokee Memorial Park & Funeral Home at 9 a.m., when the Remembering Our Fallen Memorial opens in the Vineyard Chapel.
Remembering Our Fallen is a photographic memorial of the 780 servicemen and women who were killed during the Global War on Terror between Sept. 11 and Aug. 30, 2001.
The memorial will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the holiday weekend.
In addition, hundreds of family and friends of those buried at Cherokee Memorial are expected to attend the annual Veterans Memorial Day Service Monday at 10:30 a.m. at 14165 Beckman Road.
This year's guest speaker is Manteca resident Major General Eldon Regua, who last served as Deputy Commanding General (Wartime), with the Eighth Army in Yongsan, Seoul, Korea.
Regua was commissioned Air Defense Artillery upon graduating from Santa Clara University, with his first assignment in Giessen, Germany.
During his 36 years with the Army, he held two assignments as a Commanding General with the 75th Division in Houston, Tex., and with the 104th Division, in Vancouver, Wash.
His military decorations include two Distinguished Service Medals and two Legion of Merit medals.
In addition, he served on the California Governor's Military Council for more than seven years.
The day will also feature the 66th Annual Avenue of the Flags, which displays 1,040 large veterans flags throughout the cemetery and 8,173 small American flags at the graves of the fallen.
The American Legion Post 22 will place 317 casket flags along the Avenue of Flags, and will also participate in the Memorial Day service at Lodi Memorial Park and Cemetery, 5750 East Pine St., at 9 a.m.
The event at Lodi Memorial Park also features a pancake breakfast, and Legion members will place 1,500 flags at veterans' graves.
Both Lodi events will feature "missing man" formation flyovers performed by local pilots Dennis Holbrook, Ken Cantrell, Jim Woods and Stan Helmle.
For more information about Cherokee Memorial's event, visit www.cherokeememorial.com/memorial-day.
The Galt-Arno Cemetery District, 14180 Joy Drive, in Galt, will hold its annual Memorial Day event at 10 a.m., which will feature decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags.
The City of Tracy will hold its own Memorial Day event as well at 11:30 a.m. at City Hall Plaza, 333 Civic Center Drive.
One of the largest events in the region, if not the state, will not be taking place this year.
Michael Dillmam, president and founder of the Not Forgotten Memorial Day Commemoration at Woodward Park, announced in March that he ans his wife could no longer be able to hold the event.
