Thursday, April 28, 2011

Wellsville's Memorial Council


The Wellsville Memorial Council is busy preparing for the annual Memorial Day ceremonies. As they have been doing for years it will be one of the best ceremonies held in the area honoring our veterans, past and future. The Memorial Council has been around for 52 years now. The late Mel Boggs, a WWII veteran, was one of the original members. Mr. Boggs was President of the Council up until the time of his passing. Korean veteran Don Brown is at the helm now. He's been on the Council for 25 years now.

The Memorial Council each year raises money for not only the Memorial Day ceremonies they also supply flags all over the area ensuring that Old Glory is proudly displayed. They sponsor the annual Veterans Day ceremony. The flags you will soon see up and down Main Street is their doing. The flags and holders you will soon see on all the veteran's graves is another project they organize and handle yearly. The flag poles all around town are maintained by the Council and they ensure that flags are in prime condition. They maintain the different veteran's memorials around town including the 4th Street Veteran's Memorial. Thanks to the generosity of many area businesses, the American Legion Post 70, the VFW Post 5647, other clubs and many individuals, the Memorial Council tirelessly carry on the tradition of honoring our veterans.

This year's Memorial Day ceremonies will begin at 9 AM at the 4th Street Square, followed by a parade and closing ceremonies at the Newlin Memorial in Springhill Cemetery. Anyone participating is invited to breakfast and lunch at the VFW Post at 359 Main St.

Pictured above on a post card with a 1909 post mark is the Wellsville's Veteran's Memorial as it looked back then. It was originally built honoring our Civil War veterans. The cannons were lost to WWII scrap metal drives. In 1976 the memorial was rebuilt and rededicated. It is a Wellsville landmark that has been dedicated to area veterans for over 100 years.

On Saturday, May 7, flags will be placed on the graves at Springhill Cemetery. Anyone wishing to lend a hand is invited to join the members of the Council, Boy Scout Troop 29 and others. All volunteers are to meet at the Newlin Memorial starting at 1 PM.

Another event being lined up is a flag burning ceremony for sometime in June. It will be a joint ceremony with Elks Lodge 1040 and Boy Scout Troop 29 at the Elks lodge on Riverside. Anyone having an old discolored or tattered flag is invited to attend and have those flags properly disposed of. We'll let you know when an exact date is set.

Memorial Day is less than a month away. Please join in to honor our veterans...


ole nib

2 comments:

Phil L. said...

Thanks for the great old picture!

Hmmmm... I expect to see the river on the far left of the photo, but instead, it appears that there's a train, or something that sort of looks like a train.

Was the postcard photographer originally trying to capture a train going by the monument - but the rest of it was cropped out?

Phil

************* said...

We believe the monument was the photographer's subject. Think those are passenger cars on that train in the background.

nib