Port Washington to hold Memorial Day observance
The Village of Port Washington will recognize Memorial Day with a special service beginning at noon on Monday, May 31 at the Port Washington Union Cemetery.
The Village of Port Washington will recognize Memorial Day with a special service beginning at noon on Monday, May 31 at the Port Washington Union Cemetery.
COVID-19 restrictions including social distancing and masks will be in effect during the service.
Mayor Tom Gardner, a retired Navy veteran, said the area veterans all attend the service in white shirts, black pants and Port Washington veterans hats. He will give an introduction speech, and then members of four local 4-H clubs, usually totalling about 25 kids, will say the Pledge of Allegiance.
This year Harold P. Weber, retired NASA Apollo engineer, will be the special guest speaker at the service. He was originally going to be the guest for the 2020 service, which had to be canceled due to COVID, Gardner said.
Weber is a Port Washington native, having graduated from Port Washington High School in 1950 as valedictorian in his 11-member class. He also worked at his father’s local gas station after graduation.
Weber served four years in the U.S. Air Force and enrolled in the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He was hired in 1965 by Grumman Aerospace Corporation and worked with the NASA Apollo Lunar Module Landing Radar Program. He was the lead test engineer, responsible for modifications to prevent Apollo 14 mode-switching problems. His modifications were used on the last three missions for Apollo 15, 16 and 17. He currently lives in Florida and will travel to Port Washington for the event.
The subject of his Memorial Day speech will be about the Korean Conflict. “He’s quite a historian; hardly anyone talks about the Korean Conflict anymore,” Gardner said.
Memorial Day service music will be provided by the Indian Valley High School band and the singer of the Jordan River Boys and former Port Washington Mayor Bruce Hibinger.
The Newcomerstown Veterans Honor Guard will provide military honors for fallen service members, followed by the 21-gun salute.
“We start all the way back to the Civil War,” Gardner said, and he said he will say where the killed-in-action veterans served and where they are buried.
During the service each military service member attending will be introduced with their name, branch of service and any special unit they served in by Gardner.
“There are only two World War II veterans left,” Gardner said, noting he will then go through Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan and give them each recognition.
Following the service, the veterans will all ride two farm wagons, leading a parade of Little Leaguers, 4-H members, tractors, kids’ decorated bicycles and trucks that will all travel to the Old Town Hall.
Delaware Valley Fire District will provide carryout chicken barbecue dinners for free to the veterans and at a nominal cost to locals who attend the parade.
“Before COVID, people would stay at the fire station all day and visit with friends. It’s a big event for us,” Gardner said. “We have even had military flyovers from Wright Patterson Air Force base as the parade was going on in years past. We just have a great time down here. It’s a great time for our community.”