Remembering the fallen heroes at Memorial Day events
There are a number of Memorial Day services being held in and around Holmes County on May 29.
Here’s a look at Memorial Day services being held in the area:
Millersburg, Berlin
Members of the Holmes Post 192 of the American Legion have announced the plans for Memorial Day, May 29. According to Post Cmdr. Craig Lawhead, the Memorial Day events are as follows:
—The color guard and firing squad of Post 192 will meet at the post home at 8:15 a.m. and proceed to the Clay Street Park to honor the grave of Peter Meyers, Hero of Three Wars. This service will be at 8:30 a.m.
The color guard, firing squad and all veterans will form at the courthouse at 9 a.m. to march to the Oak Hill Cemetery. Units for the parade will form in the following order: color guard, West Holmes High School marching band, firing squad, persons in uniforms, veterans of all wars, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. No political advertising or candidates are permitted.
The parade will proceed to Oak Hill Cemetery. The West Holmes High School marching band will open the ceremonies with the playing of the national anthem. Lawhead, master of ceremonies, will give the welcome address and introduce guest speaker William O’Donnell, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
Following O’Donnell’s address, Lawhead will place a wreath honoring fallen heroes of all wars. The firing squad will fire the salute, followed by the sounding of taps. Services will conclude by the offering of the benediction by Rob Wengerd, Post 192 chaplain.
The color guard, firing squad and veterans will continue to Fryburg Cemetery for a short ceremony at 10:15 a.m. and from there to Berlin to be joined by the Hiland High School marching band for services at the Berlin Cemetery that will start at 11 a.m. O’Donnell will be the guest speaker. The Hiland High School marching band and the color guard will meet at the school in Berlin. The firing squad and all veterans marching will meet at the First Baptist Church of Berlin parking lot by 10:45 a.m.
Lawhead invites citizens of all ages to participate in the Memorial Day services and asks that American flags be displayed by all citizens and businesses on Memorial Day.
For any veterans graves that do not have a marker to hold a flag, call the American Legion Post at 330-674-8923.
Killbuck, Glenmont
Killbuck and Glenmont will hold Memorial Day services on Monday, May 29.
Killbuck’s parade will begin at 10 a.m. from the VFW and will be led by the VFW Post 7079 members and the West Holmes marching band. They will march to the Killbuck Cemetery to hold memorial services. Special music will be provided by Toni Shreve and the West Holmes marching band.
Glenmont’s parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. from the Glenmont School Building and will be led by the VFW Post 7079 members and the West Holmes marching band.
The guest speaker for both memorial services will be Woodrow E. Wilson, retired Army sergeant first class and Ashland University graduate of 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Education.
Wilson joined the Navy in 1968 and spent a total of 23 months on active duty. He did two tours in Vietnam as a SeaBee building facilities for the Marine Third Division and the Army 101st Division.
He joined the Army Reserve in 1988 as a military policeman at age 42. He spent six months in Germany on active duty during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
He transferred to the Ohio Army National Guard in 1991 and became an infantryman. In 1992 his infantry company trained as M1 ABRAMS tankers, which he continued until he medically retired in 2003 at the rank of sergeant first class.
Wilson resides in Killbuck Township with his wife of 48 years, Bobbi (Taylor). They have two grown sons: Woody (wife Mandi) of Doylestown and Brian (wife Megan) of Killbuck. They have five grandchildren: Meredith, Daniel, Cohen, Camrie and Paige.
Sugarcreek
Nate Slaby of Wickliffe will be the featured speaker at the Sugarcreek Memorial Day services on May 29 at 9:30 a.m. at Eastlawn Cemetery. It is held by Sugarcreek Homer Weiss American Legion Post #494.
Slaby is the nephew of Post Cmdr. Linda Stefanov and was born and raised in Maple Heights. He joined the Navy in 1998. He was assigned to the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), based out of Norfolk, Virginia. In five years at the command, he saw two deployments. The second deployment was in support of the military’s initiating the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Slaby is a management and program analyst for the department of veterans affairs, assigned at Wade Park in Cleveland. He and his wife Ashley have a daughter named Rylee and reside in Wickliffe.
Other events on May 29 planned by the American Legion are as follows:
—The Post Honor’s Team will conduct a ceremony at 7:45 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial in Walnut Creek. The team will then conduct honors at the Dundee Cemetery from about 8-8:30 a.m.
—There will be a short ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at the Union Hill Cemetery at the grave of Homer Weiss to honor veterans buried there.
—A service also will be held in Baltic at 10:30 a.m.
Also participating at Sugarcreek will be the Garaway High School Marching Pirate Band, Boy and Girl Scouts, Post Cmdr. Stefanov, and post chaplain Bill Johnson. Two students from Miller Avenue Elementary will give the “Gettysburg Address” and “In Flander’s Field.” Those students are Michael Hamsher, son of Jason and Stacy Hamsher, and Macie Custer, daughter of Jay Custer and Susan Saron. The Medal of Honor flag will be placed at the grave of Milton Blickensderfer, who earned the medal during the Civil War.
Post #494 offers flags for sale for anyone wanting to purchase a U.S. flag.
Winesburg
The annual Memorial Day Parade and Memorial Service will be held in Winesburg on Monday, May 29.
The parade will begin at 9:15 a.m. at the water tower and will travel through Winesburg to the Westlawn Cemetery, where the memorial service will be held.
Veterans in the area are encouraged to participate in the morning activities. Children also are invited to participate in the parade. Meet at the water tower at 9 a.m. prior to the parade. Anyone interested in having a unit in the parade should call Esther Frink at 330-359-5139.
Major Stephen Wakefield will be the speaker at the memorial service. Wakefield is active duty Air Force and is the son-in-law of Bruce and Shelley Millage of Millersburg. Wakefield earned his commission through the U.S. Air Force Academy and is currently a student at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California. The mission of the USAF TPS is to produce highly adaptive, critical-thinking test professionals to lead and conduct full-spectrum tests and evaluations of aerospace weapon systems.
Prior to this assignment, Wakefield served as the executive officer to the commander, 353rd Special Operations Wing, Kadena AB, Japan, where he provided administrative oversight for the Air Force’s only special operations wing in the Indo-Pacific Theater. The Hiland band will play several selections, and the roll call of deceased area veterans will be read.
A social time with refreshments will be held at the fire station following the memorial service. The public is welcome.
Loudonville
The Loudonville Memorial Day Parade will take place Monday, May 29. The parade will start on Wally Road next to the water plant, led by American Legion Post 257 Color Guard. The parade will stop at the Main Street bridge with a ceremony and a 21-gun salute. The parade will continue up Main Street, stopping at the memorial in Central Park with another ceremony and a 21-gun salute, continuing up Main Street and then down South Wood Street, ending at the Loudonville Cemetery, which will feature another ceremony with a guest speaker and a 21-gun salute.
Shreve
The Newkirk Cemetery will host Memorial Day services on Sunday, May 28 at 9 a.m. The color guard from the Shreve American Legion will present the colors. Tom Ballinger, an Army veteran with a deployment to Iraq who started his law-enforcement career with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and is currently a detective for the Copley Police Department, will speak. Flags will be placed on veterans’ graves from the Revolutionary War to the present day.
Wilmot
The Wilmot Cemetery Association will conduct the annual Memorial Day observance at Greenlawn Cemetery on Monday, May 29 at 8:45 a.m. The observance will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and the veterans of that war who are buried in the cemetery.
Ceremonies honoring all veterans will be conducted by the Beach City American Legion Weimer-Widder Post 549 and will include the reading of the Roll of Honor of veterans who are buried in the cemetery. Music will be provided by the Fairless High School marching band.
Association board member and retired Stark County Family Court Judge David Stucki will honor Korean War veterans and share the story of Sugar Creek Township resident and POW Vernon Judd, who died Feb. 15, 1951, and whose remains were identified June 14, 2019, and later interred at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair for comfort. Parking within the cemetery grounds will be limited to vehicles with handicapped placards.
In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at Faith Christian Academy, 511 W. Main St., Wilmot.