MEMORIAL DAY EVENTS

The American Legion posts in Loyal and Greenwood and The Highground veterans memorial park west of Neillsville are planning annual Memorial Day services for May 31.

Loyal’s events will start at 9:45 a.m., when the Legion Color Guard will lead the high school band on a short parade into the city cemetery. The program will start at 10 a.m., and will feature the keynote address from LHS Principal Doug Dieckman. The program will also include the annual passing of the GAR flag from the senior class to the junior class, and laying of a wreath in honor of deceased veterans. A free lunch at the Legion Hall will follow the services.

In Greenwood, Wallis-Hinker-Brux Post 238 will begin its services at 10:30 a.m., in the city cemetery. The program there will include the traditional laying of poppies on the memorial for each of the Greenwood veterans who died in the nation’s conflicts. The Legion Color Guard will then move on to St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Immanuel United Church of Christ cemetery, and Holy Family Cemetery near Willard for similar services. The Post will serve charcoal chicken at the Legion Hall at the conclusion of the events.

At The Highground west of Neillsville, the Memorial Day ceremony will begin at 3 p.m., with the National Moment of Remembrance. The ceremony will include dedication of a tribue to “The Lost 74,” the sailors who were lost on the USS Frank Evans in 1969 when it sank after a collision near Australia.

Earlier that day, motorcycle riders will converge on The Highground as the various legs of the 11th Annual Honor Ride come together. They will arrive and pass through a flag line as they enter the park, and will take part in various activities until the 3 p.m. ceremony. Throughout the day, the names of Wisconsin servicemen lost from World War II through present day conflicts will be read over The Highground’s public address system.