(Published Thursday, May 24, 2007 11:21:15 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Brodhead A parade begins at 9 a.m. Monday at Veterans Memorial Park, running east on 12th Street to the Greenwood Cemetery. A ceremony will follow at the cemetery.
Clinton The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Legion Hall, 508 Front St., ending at the high school at 10 a.m. A short ceremony will include words from past State Cmdr. Les Allen of Darien.
Delavan At 1 p.m. today, veterans' graves will be decorated at Spring Grove and St. Andrew's cemeteries, both on North 7th Street, and at East Delavan Cemetery. In case of rain, decorating will take place Friday.
A 9 a.m. church service takes place Sunday at Lutheran Memorial Church, 910 E. Geneva St. Participating veterans should be at church by 8:45 a.m..
The parade begins at 9 a.m. Monday, running from the corner of Main Street and Walworth Avenue to St. Andrews Cemetery and Spring Grove cemeteries. Lt. Col. John Loomer, a 22-year-Army veteran, will speak, Delavan historian Gordon Yadon will serve as Master of Ceremonies and Robert Scott will do the roll call of deceased veterans since Memorial Day 2006. A short program will follow at the Old Settler Cemetery followed by an open house at the American Legion.
In case of inclement weather, ceremonies will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Phoenix Middle School, 324 Beloit St.
East Troy A parade begins 10:30 a.m. Monday at East Troy High School at Graydon and West streets, heading down Main Street to the village square. Services at on the square. Loomis-Martin American Legion Post 188 will conduct memorial services.
Edgerton The VFW Jamboree takes place from noon to 6 p.m. Thursday and from noon to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday at Veterans Park. Activities include music, games and rides.
The memorial squad tour of five cemeteries begins at 7 a.m. Monday at Albion Prairie Cemetery.
At 10 a.m. Monday, a Memorial Day program will be held at Edgerton Middle School. Fred Falk will speak, and middle school bands will perform.
Elkhorn A tour of veterans' cemeteries begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday, and includes North Geneva Cemetery, Roselawn Cemetery, Tibbets Cemetery, and Hartwell Cemetery. A combined color guard and rifle squad from American Legion Post 95 and VFW Elkhorn Post 6375 will lead.
A short parade down Walworth Street begins at 10:30 a.m. from Lincoln Street and concludes at the Walworth County Government Center. A brief ceremony follows, including patriotic music by the Elkhorn Area High School Band, the high school Vocal Jazz and Alumni Choir and Celtic Nations, a bagpipe and drum band. Special guest speaker is U.S. Army Second Lt. Ryan Yaun, who recently returned from Iraq.
The rifle squad and color guard will visit Hazel Ridge and Mount Olivet cemeteries following the ceremony.
Evansville At 9 a.m. Saturday, the Evansville Boy Scouts, American Legion Post 35, VFW Post 6905 and area volunteers will place American flags on veterans' graves at area cemeteries.
At 10 a.m. Monday, a parade will commence from Main Street to Maple Hill Cemetery. A ceremony and presentations by American Legion Post 35, VFW Post 6905, Evansville Community School bands and the Boy Scouts will follow. State Rep. Brett Davis will be the guest speaker.
The "Rally in the Alley" event will follow at the VFW building, 179 E. Main St., featuring food, drinks and live music. A silent auction will be held from noon to 2:30 pm.
Fontana-Walworth Memorial Day services begin at 8 a.m. Monday as VFW Post 10669 and American Legion Ingalls-Koeppen Post 102 conduct joint ceremonies at the Walworth Village Square.
Memorial services are scheduled for Cobble Stone Cemetery at 8:15 a.m. and Brick Church Cemetery at 9 a.m.
Veterans and bands form at the Walworth Grade School at 9:50 a.m. for the Walworth parade to the Walworth Cemetery, where the memorial service starts at 10:30 a.m. The parade then forms again at 11 a.m. near the post office in Fontana Lake Front Park for services there at about 11:30 a.m.
Footville At 9 a.m. Monday, a parade will commence from Footville Lumber down Main Street, ending at Memorial Park. A ceremony with a guest speaker from the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs will follow, along with appearances by the firing squad and color guard.
Fulton Township At program is planned at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Fulton Cemetery on Caledonia Road. The program features Dr. Robert Heney, a UW-Whitewater history professor, the Edgerton High School choir and a Civil War reenactment. A potluck picnic follows at Fulton Church, 9209 N. Fulton St.
Genoa City Memorial Day services sponsored by the Genoa City American Legion Post 183, begin 10 a.m. Monday in the Brookwood Elementary School gym, 630 Kossuth St. The program features music by the Brookwood Middle School Band. A parade starts at the school at 11 a.m. and continues on to the Legion Hall at Fellows and Main streets.
Janesville On Sunday:
-- There will be a 7 p.m. ceremony at the Company A 192nd Tank Battalion Monument, celebrating its 60th anniversary, at the Corn Exchange, corner of Milwaukee and Franklin streets. This program will honor all veterans but in particular the Janesville-area soldiers who were in the Death March during World War II.
Abel Ortega Sr., of San Antonio, Texas, who was a member of Janesville's Company A 192nd Tank Battalion and endured the infamous WWII Bataan Death March, subsequent imprisonment, torture and slavery as a Prisoner of War, will be the main speaker.
Also speaking will be Jim Opolony, teacher and facilitator of the Provisio High School award-winning Bataan Commemorative Research Project in Mayville, Ill.
Leo Hanauska, nephew of Co. A member Harold Fanning, will emcee the program while Abel Ortega Jr. will place the wreath. John Eyster will deliver the opening and closing prayers, Kevin Vechinsky will sing and Cindy Torres will read a poem. Members of Vietnam Veterans of America Rock River Chapter 236 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Kienow-Hilt Post 1621 will make up the firing squad.
On Monday:
-- An 8 a.m. ceremony will be held at the veterans section of Oak Hill Cemetery, 1725 N. Washington St. Mike Sheridan, Democratic Rep. for the 44th Assembly District, and UAW Local 95 President, of Janesville, will speak.
-- There will be a 9:30 a.m. ceremony at Milton Lawns Memorial Park Cemetery, 2200 Milton Ave. The VFW firing squad will be featured.
-- An 11 a.m. parade starts at the corner of High and Dodge streets and moves onto Milwaukee Street, Main Street and into Traxler Park, 600 N. Main St.
-- At noon, the main and final ceremony of the holiday weekend will take place at the Veterans Memorial Plaza in Traxler Park. Ortega Sr. will deliver the main Memorial Day address, and the Janesville Fife & Drum Corps and Parker High School band will perform. Family members of active duty members and veterans will place the memorial wreaths.
-- Immediately after the noon service, a lunch will be served at the VFW Clubhouse, 1015 Center Ave. It is open to the public.
Lake Geneva A Memorial Day parade led by the Frank Kresen American Legion Post 24 begins at 10 a.m. Monday at Wisconsin and Broad streets, then proceeds south on Broad to Wrigley Drive and on to the Riviera Lakehouse on Geneva Lake.
Alderman Bill Chesen and Wes Smale, commander of Post 24, will make opening remarks. Principal speaker is Badger High School valedictorian Andrea Miller, and Riley Mikrut, 11, will sing "God Bless America." Master of ceremonies is post member Jim Hanny, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, and grand marshal is John Maas, U.S. Army veteran of World War II. Post member Ron Berndt will cast a wreath onto Geneva Lake, and Post 24's honor guard will lead the final salute.
Pastor Brain Metke of Trinity Lutheran Church of Pell Lake will give the benediction.
Orfordville A program organized by Kenneth S. Wells American Legion Post, Auxiliary Unit and SAL Squadron 209 Orfordville begins at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Parkview High School gym, 106 W. Church St. Rear Admiral Dirk J. Debbink, Reserve Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, U. S. Pacific Fleet, will give the message.
A parade follows from the school to Memorial Park for the annual rededication and reading of 157 memorialized names.
A Legion chicken and pork chop barbecue will be served, and the Legion's firing squad will give a three-volley salute at the park and later at Kenneth Wells' gravesite in the nearby cemetery.
Sharon American Legion Moser-Ortmann Post 130 will begin Memorial Day observances at 9 a.m. Monday at Oakwood Cemetery. Featured speaker will be former post commander Elmer Korbei. Joe Greenlee will give a speech, and there will be a reading by Duane Kovarik.
The Big Foot High School band will play the Star Spangled Banner, and the Sharon Community School Band will also perform. Dale Johnson will play "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes.
The honor guard will perform a salute and taps.
Turtle The annual Memorial Day ceremony and cemetery tour begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Turtle Community Center, 6916 County J. The program includes prayers music and a flag ceremony.
At 2:45 p.m., the event will travel to the Turtleville Cemetery, 3916 Creek Road. At 3:15 p.m., the group moves on to the Shopiere Cemetery, 7600 Butterfly Road.
Lunch will be provided at 3:30 at the community center.
Whitewater Memorial Day observances begin at 9 a.m. Monday at Oak Grove Cemetery, next to Washington Elementary School, 506 E. Main St.
At 10 a.m., the annual American Legion parade begins downtown at the First Citizens State Bank parking lot, 207 W. Main St., moving east to the American Legion, 272 Wisconsin Street. The parade will include the state Sons of American Revolution Color Guard and an antique horse-drawn hearse. A ceremony will be offered at the American Legion after the parade.
At 1 p.m., the Whitewater Historical Society will dedicate a historical marker in memory of two Revolutionary War veterans at Oak Grove Cemetery. Afterward, visitors can participate in a cemetery walk featuring third-person biographical sketches or first-person portrayals of individuals buried at specific sites.
Whitewater Historian and author Fred Kraege will be available as a consultant at the cemetery.
Williams Bay The parade begins at 10:45 a.m. Monday at Cherry and Clover streets, proceeding to Edgewater Park. Then, at 11 a.m., the Williams Bay VFW Post 2373 will conduct memorial services in the park. Village President and Post Commander Don Weyhrauch will give the welcome, and the post will be honored with an award for 75 years of active service.
Patriotic music will be performed by the Williams Bay High School Band.
