Thanks so much, Bob for the beautifully-written account (and Bill for the
request that we share the same)
I'm proud to be an American, moreso each day-not just on Memorial
Day....have started performing for VETS in Sr living situations. I well remember
the horrible Viet Nam time when our valiant men and women who served were
shamefully treated! At that time I was married to a SeaBee, and he lost
friends,and some we gratefully still keep in contact with!!!!!!! My ancestry
includes many "Pilgrims" and Rev War participants, two g-grandfathers who
served in the UN-Civil War--one dying from malaria after battle---a maternal
Physician grandfather who died from TB contracted from military patients
aboard ship-----and others...We need to constantly remind today's youth of the
sacrifices made for us all to have the wonderful technologies and
lifestyles we have today----and instill praise for those who managed to endure
through those sacrifices......MEMORIAL DAY should be an "EVERY DAY
THANKSGIVING!" when we remember to
thank God for them, and each person who has ever served!! God bless
America! Marylyn
In a message dated 5/28/2011 11:36:45 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
rkel870(a)hotmail.com writes:
Thanks Bill !
What you have described is pretty much how Memorial Day was observed where
I grew up in Alden. Dad was not a Legion member but a VFW member, having
no post locally at the time, he was like a fish out of water. My uncle Homer
was a World War I veteran and Post Commander of the VFW in Geneva,NY.
Seemingly where most of the Kelleys and descendant's of Frank Tubbs and Kate
Ouderkirk wound up after leaving Elkland sometime after the birth of my aunt
Anna in 1914, but before my father's birth in 1919. Homer made a point of
signing Dad up for the VFW upon his first leave back to the states after his
stint in the Pacific. I have a photo taken of them in the Geneva VFW post,
Harold in Marine uniform and Homer in VFW uniform. It's somewhere here in
my pile of "research". I'll post it if I can find it. I have posted a photo
of Harold, Lints and Uncle Albert Essig in uniform in the past.
Anyway,Alden on Memorial Day as I learned to call it, or Decoration Day as
the older folks including my parents used to say, was indeed a very BIG
event for the village.Graves of veterans in the Town and Village would have
been decorated with American flags and one small potted Geranium flower( I
was told they represented the poppies of Flander's Field of WW I fame) by
members of the local Boy and Girl Scouts,Brigade ( youth organization from
the local churches,similar to Boy Scouts except Faith based) and other
community youth groups.The flags and flowers were supplied by the Legion,
Rotary, Lions, Jaycees and other service organizations. Small parades in the
Town's various hamlets including Townline, Marilla and Millgrove were all held
in the morning so the Alden HS Band could be there, as well as an honor
guard, firing squad and local dignitaries, etc. These parades were very short
as were the services so the group could make the rounds on time to each
place and go th!
rough the salutes, taps and remarks at each site.
Usually shortly after 1:00PM the BIG parade would be in the Village of
Alden. They would close off Route 20 (Broadway) and march from one of the
school parking lots up Crittenden Road to Broadway to the Alden Evergreen
Cemetery.The whole parade would enter the cemetery and any remainder which would
not fit, was left to stand at parade rest out on a lane of Broadway.Most
of the time they crammed them in with a shoe horn as Broadway (State Route
20) begins as a four lane very busy state highway into Buffalo from Alden
west. Services including National Anthem, Taps, FIring Squad and short
speeches were all the order of the day.Upon the conclusion of the ceremonies the
parade would disband and walk back easterly along the shoulder of Broadway,
there weren't any sidewalks there then. Most everybody went to the Legion
Hall or the chicken Barbeque across the street in the Tri-Angle Park ( now
Fireman's Memorial Park).
Dad and quite a few other World War II and Korean War vets would wear
their uniforms when they attended the services.Dad's actually still fit like a
glove and looked good, some didn't look so good, but they had earned the
right to wear the uniform and they were going to wear them. There were still
quite a number of World War I vets alive then as I remember most being in
their late 60's or early 70's. I don't recall any Spanish American War Vets.
That day was always huge. World War II , Korea were vivid memories of
people having ended less than twenty years and 15 years earlier respectively.
Most folks wanted to honor the memories of those they knew who had passed
away. It began in reverence, then a celebration of thanks for their
sacrifices.
Viet Nam was beginning to produce its own heartbreaking memories. As it
did, Memorial Day observances became smaller and smaller in town. Few people
wanted to know anything about Viet Nam. What they did know ,they wanted to
forget. Whether you supported the war or didn't, it seemed as a society, we
forgot those who we sent.
I for one am thankful, that during this interminable War on Terror, for it
or against it, we at least seem to be taking better care of those who gone
to do a job few of us would want. I would hope so. The sacrifices made by
men and woman over the years to make this country what it is, should not be
forgotten. Lincoln said it best, " The world will little note, nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did ( here ).
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced." This day is
about them.Thanks to them all.
Bob
Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 18:55:55 -0500
From: capane(a)verizon.net
To: campbell-pa-nelson-l(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [Ca-Pa-Ne] Memorial Day Memories of Nelson
I'd like to invite subscribers of this list to reminisce about their
memories of long past Memorial days. Those of you who are too young to
have
first hand memories are invited to relay stories from their parent,
grand-parents --- or perhaps in some cases --- from great-grand parents.
In Nelson of the late 1940s and early 1950s, it was called "Decoration
Day"
and was the big day of the hear. In effect it was Homecoming Day. It
was
usually a week before or after the "real" Memorial Day, so that the
Elkland
HS band could supply music for Nelson one weekend, and for Elkland
the
other. Nelson's observance was of course held in the Nelson Cemetery. I
never attended Elkland's observance, but presumably it was held in
Highland
Cemetery. Some of you reading this probably know for sure.
The event in Nelson started with a service at the Presbyterian Church,
which
was built by our Campbell/Hazlett ancestors from lumber cut as Sam
Hazlett's
sawmill. Sadly, that church was torn down years ago. It stood near
the SW
corner of the cemetery. Fortunately I still have a painting of it done
by my
mother. The existing Nelson Community Church was the former
Methodist
Church, moved from the South Side when Nelson was relocated.
A parade lead people from the church to the cemetery for decorating the
graves. Following the HS band was a motorcade of local dignitaries,
veterans
in their VFW or American Legion caps, an honor guard in their old
military
uniforms, and a large crowd of people with some flowers. Most had
too
many
flowers to carry and had driven their cars near loved one's
graves --- at
least to unload. In addition to the band playing there would be several
comparatively short speeches and a main address; a salute of blanks
fired
by the honor guard, and a bugler played taps. Then people
distributed
flowers to the graves of those they wished to remember or honor. That
involved a lot .of waking around and greeting friends and relatives they
may
not have seen in years. I was just a kid, so many of the names
didn't
"stick
-- or are long forgotten if they did. Aome of the people I do
remember
encountering were O.B. "Ben" Blanchard, the town undertaker and wife
Angie
CLOSE Blanchard. Clark Wood, for whom a school in Elkland was named
---
and
his wife (Helen BATES?}. Ila HESS Lugg, trustee of Mansfield State
U. who
later was a prime mover in Nelson's relocation. And of course, a long
list
(which would bore you) of Hazlett, Owlett, Tubbs, etc. I feel lucky
to
have
met so many of our relatives and have fond memories of some.
I was fascinated by the variety of the tombstones, by the age of some of
them, and the beauty of the SE corner of the cemetery. Its graves were
relocated to the NW corner to make room for the lake.
All that yacking by adults was pretty boring to a kid. But the "good
part"
was going to the Nelson school, next to Bobby Lugg's farm, for
boxed
lunches
of fried chicken.
My older sibling remembered Civil War veterans, such as my ggf, Rev.
Henry
D. Goodrich, in the parade. I believe they used to recite G.A.R.
poems or
songs, but that was before my time.
How about you sharing your family's memories of long gone Memorial Days?
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