By News-Register staff • 

Events to mark Memorial Day

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day.

It was first celebrated in 1868 as a way of honoring soldiers who died in the Civil War. Congress created the federal Memorial Day holiday in 1971.

To mark the occasion this year, the United Veterans Honor Guard, American Legion Riders and American Legion Auxiliary are planning a full day of presentations. They intend to visit four area cemeteries and two other locations.

The free presentations will include commemorative speeches in honor of veterans from the War of 1812 through current conflicts, along with renditions of “Taps” and a three-round rifle volley. For more information, call organizer Richard McJunkin at 503-835-0374.

The schedule includes:

- 9 a.m., Amity Pioneer Cemetery, burial site of a War of 1812 veteran, at Fifth and Woodland Way.

- 10:30 a.m., Yamhill-Carlton Pioneer Cemetery, between Carlton and Yamhill on Fryer Road.

- Noon, Dayton City Hall.

- 1 p.m., Dayton IOOF Cemetery, just south of town on Wallace Road.

- 2:30 p.m., Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery, Highway 99W and Highway 47 in McMinnville.

- 4 p.m., American Legion Hall, 126 N.E. Atlantic St. in McMinnville.

Additional events are planned in other locations around the county.

- The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde will host an annual Memorial Day event at noon at the West Valley Veterans’ Memorial.

- A statewide Memorial Day event will be held at 3 p.m. Monday on the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs grounds, at 700 Summer St. NE in Salem. The keynote speaker will be state Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

- Newberg American Legion Post 57 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4015 will make presentations at five Newberg-Dundee area cemeteries, starting at 8 a.m. Presentations are set for Valley View, Dundee Pioneer, Noble, Gibbs and Friends, each including military honors.

The Legion and VFW posts are also planning to host a Memorial Day event at Memorial Park, Sixth and Blaine in Newberg, at 11 a.m. It will include a reading of the Gettysburg Address, a War Memorial roll call and floral presentations by various groups.

A community barbecue is slated to follow at noon. For more information, call Faith Gerstel at 503-538-9151.

Comments

riverdale71

I thought our state Senator Boquist was an Army type. Regardless of branch, thank you for your military and your state service.

paleface

My father {a native American) was a Marine infantryman (1942-1956) and I personally mow the lawn above his grave, both before, and every week after Memorial Day. Hoo-aah, MoFo, Hoo-aah!

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