Communities come together to remember

Three communities gathered together May 27 to stand up and show their respect for those who have fallen in service to our country during the Kipton Camden Henrietta Memorial Day Parade and Program.

The event began with a parade down State Route 511 in Kipton and then the joviality ended as community member mosied to the village’s more than 130-year-old Civil War monument.

The monument bears the names of community members lost in wars going back to the War of 1812. Recently, the first fallen service member from conflicts in the Persian Gulf has been added to the monument.

Once there, the crowd joined in solemn remembrance of the nearly 400 members of the three communities who did not return from their service to the country, as each name was read out by organizer and member of the 2018 Memorial Day Committee Vicki Morris.

As the names were read, family members of the deceased were given flowers in thanks for the sacrifice.

The event has been held annually for more than 40 years and has been organized by the committee recently, having previously been put on by a group known as The Fireladies.

“The guys didn’t like being called fireladies,” Betty Groot, treasurer for the

committee, said before the parade began.

No matter the name of the group organizing the event, the message of remembering these fallen heroes remains the same.

“It’s important to remember the men and women who served their country and were willing to give their lives,” Morris said.

“That was instilled in our generation; to be patriotic,” Groot added. “So, we take care of our men.”

The program also recognized those veterans who did return and those who are still serving their country, Groot said.

“We feel that they’re not teaching this in school, so that’s why we keep carrying on with this because we want these young people coming up to know that this is important,” she said.

Morris emphasized the fact that the holiday isn’t about the barbecues or get togethers, but a solemn memorial.

“It’s not the first weekend of summer, it’s a day you remember the people who were willing to give their lives for our country,” she said. “It’s not a celebration, it should be somewhat somber, and the program part of our thing is.”

KEITH REYNOLDS — THE MORNING JOURNAL A man who would only identify himself as George Washington poses briefly while awaiting the commencement of the Kipton Camden Henrietta Memorial Day Parade on May 27 in Kipton.