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 through 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?
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
CAMPBELL-PA-NELSON-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the
quotes in the subject and the body of the message