Memorial Day services to honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces are set in the week ahead throughout Leelanau County. Beginning Friday, people can look for services scheduled at various locations to pay their respects.
Leelanau Township Memorial Day Observance For those at the top of the peninsula in the Village of Northport, Leelanau Township will hold its annual Memorial Day observance ceremony on Monday, May 27 at Leelanau Township Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. At 10 a.m., “Rolling Taps,” a melody declared by Congress as the “National Song of Remembrance,” will be performed by the members of the Northport Community Band throughout the village. The program will feature West Point graduate Jim White as the speaker and include musical pieces (such as the National Anthem and Armed Forces Salute) performed by the Northport Community Band and Village Voices. The Leelanau County Scouts will participate again in the processional and raising of the flag ceremony.
Leelanau Township Clerk Jessica Wilson said organizing this year’s service has really been a community team effort as many of the members of the cemetery committee have retired. Between Leelanau Township and Omena Cemeteries, Wilson said there are more than 100 gravesites that will receive an American flag for Memorial Day. Next year, Wilson added that she hopes to get more youth involved with helping to assist in things like workbees for beautifying parts of the cemetery as well leading up to the day of service.
Leelanau County Veterans Memorial Day Ceremony The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Little Finger Post 7731 is set to conduct its Memorial Day ceremony on May 27 at 10 a.m. once again at the Leelanau County Veterans Memorial on Government Center Drive. The hour-long service will feature an opening song by Jerry Culman and the playing of Taps by Josh Wagner, with event co-directors and Vietnam veterans Jim Simons and Gene Kelly giving the welcome and opening comments. The Rev. Kent Anderson of West Bay Covenant Church will give the invocation, and Jeff LaCross, a retired Munson Medical Center administrator and platoon leader in the Vietnam War, will be the keynote speaker. Salutes will be offered to branches of the military service, and St. Mary graduate Rachel Amalfitano will lead in the national anthem.
In addition, the names of VFW Post 7731 veterans who have passed away in the past 12 months will be named and honored. For more information, call 231-2569711 or email Lauren Cypher lcypher@ leelanau.gov with questions.
Glen Arbor Township Memorial Day Service
Glen Arbor Township will host its 5th annual Memorial Day Ceremony on Friday, May 24 at 10 a.m. at the historic Glen Arbor Township Cemetery located at 6305 Forest Haven Drive. The program will include a eulogy for Civil War veteran Edmund Trumbull, as well as a poem, Taps, and the Glen Lake Community School’s 8th graders paying homage to the 51 known individuals buried at the cemetery.
