Several communities in the Mid-Ohio Valley will be celebrating Memorial Day with parades and ceremonies during the upcoming holiday weekend, most of them on Monday.
Reno
A Memorial Day service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in East Lawn Memorial Park in Reno. Master of ceremonies will be Jon Smith.
The program includes presentation of colors by American Legion Post 750 of Lowell, invocation by the Rev. James Fernihough, patriotic songs and the naming of those lost this past year. Those attending are asked to bring lawn chairs.
Marietta
The Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts are sponsoring parades on Monday to honor military veterans who who have died in service.
Each parade will feature local high school bands, veterans groups, community organizations and politicians. A memorial service, with 21-gun salutes and other honors will be given at the end of each event.
VFW Post 5108 will hold the first parade, which begins at Harmar Elementary School. After lining up at 7:30 a.m., the parade will start at 8, going to the Harmar Cemetery, where a 20-minute program will be held in honor of fallen soldiers.
From the cemetery, the crowd can walk to the Putnam Bridge, where another 21-gun salute will be given for fallen Marine and Navy personnel lost at sea and a flower wreath will be thrown into the Muskingum River.
The parade organized by American Legion Post 64 will begin lining up at 9:30 a.m. Monday on Front Street next to East Muskingum Park. The parade will start at 10 a.m. and follow a route along Putnam, Fifth, Wooster and Eighth streets.
During the parade, the units will stop at Mound Cemetery for a brief ceremony.
There will also be a ceremony in Oak Grove Cemetery at Eighth and Wooster streets to commemorate those who have passed since the last Memorial Day. This program will include a 21-gun salute and the reading of the Gettysburg Address and General Logan's orders, which were given during the Civil War and proclaimed Memorial Day.
Afterward, a flag retirement ceremony will be held at the Post 64 Home, also at Eighth and Wooster streets. Anyone with old or worn American flags can bring them to the post for proper disposal. Flags can be left anytime during the year in a mailbox in the post's lower parking lot.
Lunch will be served at the post following the flag retirement ceremony.
Williamstown
American Legion Post 159 will hold a parade from Tomlinson Park to Riverview Cemetery on Monday. Units will begin lining up between 9 and 9:30 a.m. and the parade will begin at 9:30.
A ceremony honoring deceased veterans will be held at the cemetery with speakers, a wreath-laying, a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps."
Following the memorial ceremony, everyone is invited to return to the post building at 201 Central Ave. to honor recently deceased post members and for a flag disposal ceremony. Following all ceremonies, a lunch and open house will be held for everyone in attendance.
Belpre
The annual Memorial Day program will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Leavitt Funeral Home in Belpre, at the flagpole and veterans memorial dedicated in 2007 to veterans who have received services at the funeral home.
The event is organized by American Legion Post 495 and the Ladies Auxiliary in Belpre and will feature several speakers. There will be a laying of a wreath, a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps" during the ceremony.
Following the ceremony, lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m. at the post, 100 Washington Blvd., below the Parkersburg-Belpre Bridge.
Beverly-Waterford
The annual Memorial Day Parade will begin at 9 a.m. Monday at Fort Frye High School with the lineup starting at 8:30. The parade will proceed along Ohio 60 to the Beverly Cemetery where a memorial ceremony will be held for the veterans buried there.
The parade will then move toward Waterford on the other side of the Muskingum River. The parade units will stop for a few minutes on the Beverly-Waterford Bridge while a wreathe and flowers are thrown in the river to honor naval veterans. The parade will end at the Waterford Cemetery with another ceremony for veterans.
Following the parade, participants are encouraged to join American Legion Post 389 in Beverly for breakfast.
Lowell
The Memorial Day activities will begin early with a ceremony and Mass at 7:45 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery near Lowell. The Mass will be followed by a breakfast at the post hall in Lowell.
The annual Lowell Memorial Parade will be 10 a.m. and will include visits to the Lowell Veterans Monument, the German Cemetery, Cats Creek Bridge and Greenlawn Cemetery where ceremonies will be held. American Legion Post 750 in Lowell announces a route change for the Lowell Memorial Day Parade.
The parade will start at the firehouse, proceed down Ohio 530, turn right to Fourth Street, left to the school and right on Market Street to Fifth Street. The parade will then turn left to Adams and left to Cat Creek Road and then turn right.
A luncheon will be held at the post hall after the ceremonies, which will be open to the public.
Newport
A Memorial Day service will be held on Monday at the Newport Cemetery, led by the Rev. Byron Bufkin of the Newport Methodist Church. The ceremony will start at around 11 a.m. upon the arrival of the Veterans of Foreign Wars from St. Marys, W.Va.
