Memorial Day events planned across area
BY SAMANTHA ANDERSON
sanderson@tnonline.com
Veterans groups and area municipalities have ceremonies planned in observance of Memorial Day.
Northampton area
Northampton Joint Veterans Association, consisting of American Legion Post 353, Catholic War Veterans Post 454 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4714, will conduct a memorial tribute for fallen comrades 11 a.m. May 29 at the veterans plaza, 14th Street and Dewey Avenue.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4714 will conduct graveside Memorial Day tributes May 29 at several Northampton cemeteries to honor fallen comrades. The cemetery schedule includes Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cemetery 8:30 a.m., St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery 9 a.m., St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery 9:30 a.m. and Our Lady of Hungary Cemetery 10 a.m. The brief ceremony will consist of the national anthem, a prayer, song, roll call, rifle salute, echo taps and “Amazing Grace.”
The Sons of Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic will take part in programs spanning two days.
The May 28 schedule is as follows:
• 8:15 a.m., Fairview Cemetery, Cherryville Road, Northampton
• 9 a.m., St. Peter’s (Snyder’s) United Church of Christ, Seemsville (service and cemetery)
• 10:20 a.m., Emmanuel’s Lutheran Church, Emmanuelsville
• 11 a.m., Christ United Church of Christ, Little Moore, between Klecknersville and Rockville
• Noon, Horner’s Cemetery, Nor-Bath Boulevard, East Allen Township
• 2 p.m., Zion Stone United Church of Christ, Kreidersville (service and cemetery)
The May 29 schedule is as follows:
• 8 a.m., G.A.R. Memorial Plot, Lincoln and Dewey avenues, Northampton
• 8:45 a.m., Allen Union Cemetery, Fourth and Main streets, Northampton. Inclement weather would move this program to Grace United Church of Christ, Ninth Street and Lincoln Avenue, Northampton.
• 9:45 a.m., St. John’s United Church of Christ, Howertown (service and cemetery)
• 11 a.m., Siegfried Memorial Plot, West 21st Street, Northampton
Captain Theodore Howell Camp No. 48 Sons of Union Veterans was organized in 1910 and is made up of men who are descendants of Union soldiers. Each Memorial Day since 1911, the group has visited 10 cemeteries in the Northampton area that hold the remains of the men who fought in the Civil War and other wars. Also participating in the program is the Tri Community Marching Band.
Each service will include a prayer, a recitation of the Gettysburg Address and a rifle salute, followed by the playing of taps and “Star-Spangled Banner.”
Catasauqua area
American Legion Post 215 will mark Memorial Day May 29 with services, starting 10 a.m. with a program at Fairview Cemetery, West Catasauqua, followed by services on the Pine Street Bridge, the memorial plot in North Catasauqua and at St. Mary Cemetery. The program concludes at the Post, 330 Second St.
Coplay
Coplay American Legion Post 426 will hold its annual Memorial Day services May 28, beginning noon at the war memorial at Coplay Saengerbund, South Fifth Street.
Whitehall
A program involving the township’s three veterans groups - American Legion Post 367, Fullerton; American Legion Jones Quigg Post 739, Hokendauqua; and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7293, Egypt - will be held 11:30 a.m. May 29 at the municipal building, 3219 MacArthur Road.
Before and after that joint event, the organizations will hold separate ceremonies.
VFW Post 7293 services will begin 9:30 a.m. at the Cementon memorial on Main Street. Participants will then travel to Egypt for a 10 a.m. service at the Doughboy statue at Park and South Church streets and 10:30 a.m. at the Egypt Park memorial at Hillcrest Lane and Curt Simmons Drive. Following the joint event at the municipal building, the group will conclude its program at the Post, 5209 Springmill Road. That event is planned to begin about 12:30 p.m.
Fullerton American Legion Post 367 will hold events May 29 for Memorial Day.
Services start 9 a.m. at Sacred Heart Cemetery, 609 Windsor St. The group moves to the memorial across from the Post, 609 Fullerton Ave., for 9:30 a.m. before going to the Post around 10 a.m. Post 367 services conclude with the joint veterans program, held 11:30 a.m. at the township municipal building, 3219 MacArthur Road.