Communities around the county are preparing for Memorial Day. Above, Ron Schilling Jr., of the Marysville Parks Department, mows a portion of Oakdale Cemetery. The cemetery will host a service at 9:30 a.m. Memorial Day. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
Local Memorial Day ceremonies will be in-person once again this year, though several communities have elected not to host parades.
Marysville ceremonies will begin at 8:15 a.m. Monday, May 31 at Schwartzkopf Park with an event to honor the dead lost at sea.
Retired Chief Petty Officer (Radioman) Max Amrine, a 30-year U.S. Navy veteran and former Veterans Service Commissioner, will present the wreath.
The public is invited to pay their respects, but are asked not to bring pets. Those attending should park in the north parking lot.
Ceremonies will continue at 9:30 a.m. at Oakdale Cemetery.
Special honorees will include prisoners of war and missing in action, military families and gold star mothers, while the 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm will also be recognized.
Seven wreaths will be presented at Oakdale Ceremony to honor the organizations comprising the Memorial Day Committee, as well as a wreath in remembrance of all prisoners of war and missing in action.
There will also be 11 wreaths posted to honor the veterans of the major conflicts in which the United States has been involved and one wreath for all those that have served in the military.
The VFW-sponsored Honor Guard will provide military honors.
Seating will be limited and those in attendance are asked to bring lawn chairs or blankets for additional seating.
In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will move to Veterans Auditorium.
U.S. Army Reserve Major Tracy Richardson will be the guest speaker.
Richardson and her husband Chris are graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. They have three sons and have lived in Marysville since 1998.
She was deployed during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm and earned a Bronze Star medal.
Richardson currently serves in the U.S. Army Reserves as a USMA liaison for Ohio.
She is also a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, serving her second term for District 86, which consists of Union and Marion counties. She previously served nine years on Marysville City Council.
Chaplain (Captain) Shane Bailey of the 2nd Squadron, 107th (OH) Cavalry Regiment will be the chaplain for this year’s ceremonies.
Bailey is a combat veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2011 and 2012 and is currently serving with the Army National Guard. He is also a full-time chaplain at Ohio Health Rehabilitation Hospital.
He completed a Bachelor of Science in church ministries from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary.
Bailey currently resides in Dublin with his wife, Kim, and daughter, Maddy. They have two sons, Chris, who is also a combat veteran and sergeant in the Ohio Army National Guard, and Nick, and a daughter-in-law, Macy.
Two local high school students will also participate in the ceremonies.
Skylynn Roberts will present General John “Black Jack” Logan’s orders establishing Decoration Day in 1868, which eventually became Memorial Day.
Roberts is the granddaughter of Dudley and Charlotte Blumenschein.
She will be a senior at Marysville High School in the fall. She is a member of Future Farmers of America and the Ag Sales team that won at the district level. She also participated in the Parliamentary Procedure team.
She has been a member of the Hoofbeats 4-H Club for six years and currently serves as vice president. She has participated in equine competitions, public speaking, Demonstration Day and communication contests.
Roberts also plays on a club soccer team. She is involved in her youth group at St. John’s Lutheran Church and is planning on going on a mission trip this summer.
She is the Buckeye Girls State representative from American Legion Post 79 Auxiliary.
Following graduation, she is leaning toward pursuing a career as a veterinarian.
Olivia Vollrath will present President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
She is the daughter of Kevin and Melissa Vollrath. She has a brother, Ethan.
She attends Fairbanks High School, where she is entering her senior year.
She is on the volleyball team and is an active member of FCCLA, Student Council, Interact Club and National Honor Society.
Vollrath has also been a member of the Show-n-Go 4-H club for the past eight years.
She is a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church and is active in her youth group.
She is the VFW Voice of Democracy local winner and fourth place finisher at the district level.
Vollrath plans to attend the University of Findlay after graduation to study diagnostic sonography.
Nacrina Alvarez Blanco will sing during the ceremony at Oakdale Cemetery. She has sung at the Pentagon, the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel and opened for Diana Ross.
Following the ceremony at Oakdale, there will be a short service at Amrine Cemetery conducted by American Legion Post 79 and at the Catholic Cemetery conducted by VFW Post 3320.
There will also be a ceremony at VFW Post 3320 following the cemetery observances.
Marysville Memorial Day ceremonies are sponsored by the Memorial Day Committee with representatives of American Legion Post 79, VFW Post 3320, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 55, American Veterans Post 28, Blue Star Mothers Chapter 22, Hanna Emerson Dustin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 40 and 8 Voiture Local 857 and the American Legion and VFW Ladies Auxiliaries.
—
Richwood
Richwood Memorial Day services will be held at the Claibourne Cemetery beginning at 10:30 a.m. May 31.
The National Anthem will be sung by North Union junior Katie Smith as Boy Scout Troop 440, Girl Scout Troop 4802 and Cub Scout Troop 109 lower the flag to half-staff.
North Union High School student Laney Converse will read her VFW Post 870 scholarship-winning essay on “Why We Should Continue To Remember And Honor Veterans On Memorial Day.”
Honorary Sergeant of Arms Bill Moore and two Claibourne Township Trustees will place wreaths at the cemetery’s memorial. The Veteran Honor Guard Rifle Detail will salute the dead. VFW Post 870 Auxiliary member Dawn Howald will play Taps.
The ceremony is sponsored by VFW Post 870 and Post 870 Auxiliary, American Legion Post 40, Richwood Police Department and Claibourne Township Trustees.
Those who are unable to attend in person may watch a livestream on the Stofcheck-Ballinger Facebook page.
There will not be a parade in Richwood or a service at York Cemetery.
–––
Jerome Township
Jerome Township officials will host a parade at 9:30 a.m., beginning at Jerome Church and ending at the Jerome Township Cemetery.
Residents who would like to honor fallen veterans may also attend a ceremony at the Soldier’s Monument at noon. A short speech will be given followed by laying of wreaths and a community member playing Taps.
–––
North Lewisburg
North Lewisburg’s Memorial Day activities will begin with a service in Woodstock at 9 a.m.
The events then move back to North Lewisburg where A parade will be held. Line-up for the parade begins at 9:45 a.m. with start time set at 10 a.m. Children from there area may decorate their bicycles to take part in the event.
At 10:30 a.m. the village’s ceremony will take place near the monument in the park.