The annual Manheim Memorial Day parade and ceremony will take place on Monday, May 31, beginning at 10 a.m. The parade will assemble at the Manheim Central High School stadium, 400 E. Adele Ave., and will run a loop through town, proceeding west on High Street, north on Main Street and east on Gramby Street before returning to the stadium for the ceremony. The event is organized by the Manheim VFW Post 5956 - Cyrus R. Peters Memorial Post.
The parade will feature the Manheim Central High School band, as well as local sports teams, Scouts, fire departments, veterans and the Pennsylvania National Guard. The ceremony will highlight the military service of Manheim residents.
"Everything will be based around Memorial Day and honoring the people who have served our country and who died for our freedom," said Bill King, former post commander, who will be the event's master of ceremonies. "We'll be reading the honor roll of everyone from the borough who has passed in conflict since World War II."
Each year, two fallen members of the military are featured in the ceremony, King noted, adding that this year's honorees are Richard Earl Connelly CQM USN, who was lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and John Long Jr. CPT USAR, who was killed in an attack on the aircraft carrier Kaiyo in Kyushu, Japan in 1945. "These two lost heroes show the small town of Manheim had their young men and women engaged in World War II throughout the duration of the war, in which 30 military members from Manheim lost their lives," King remarked.
The ceremony will also include a guest speaker, Brig. Gen. Michael E. Wegscheider, assistant division commander of the 28th Infantry Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Winners of the Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen essay contests will also be recognized, poems will be read, and memorial flowers will be distributed by the VFW Auxiliary 5956. Music will be provided by the Manheim Central High School band.
King said the VFW welcomes new members as well as invites any veterans to come out for the parade and ceremony. "We're always looking for more veterans to join us," he noted. "They can just come to the parade and walk with us, even if they aren't a member of our VFW."
Mark Fisher, commander of the Manheim VFW, said holding a ceremony to recognize veterans is important. "We need to honor the sacrifices of these people," he stated. "Each individual who signed up to serve made an agreement to give his or her life in defense of the freedom we all enjoy. We don't want their death to be in vain. We want them to know that we remember, we appreciate them, and we honor them."
For more information on the parade and ceremony, search for "Manheim VFW Post 5956 - Cyrus R. Peters Memorial Post" on Facebook.
Leave a Review