In memoriam

Memorial Day services in honor of those who died while serving in the armed forces are scheduled for this weekend.

Services kick off with a special event Friday evening in Fort Recovery. Ceremonies in Portland, Redkey, Dunkirk and Pennville are slated for Monday.

Fort Recovery’s will open the weekend with a ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Veteran’s Plaza in Monument Park that will include the lighting of the Fort Recovery Monument. Fort Recovery Historical Society, Fort Recovery State Museum and Fort Recovery’s Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion will host the event at Monument Park.

The event will feature the lighting of the Fort Recovery Monument, a 101-foot-tall obelisk dedicated to the Wabash Battles of 1791 and 1794. Lester Huelskamp, 98, the oldest living member of Fort Recovery’s veterans organizations, will officially light the monument. There will also be 1,000 white crosses in the lawn to honor the soldiers who died in the Wabash battles.

A committee headed by village administrator Randy Diller and former village council member Ken Romer raised about $15,000 for the new lighting. Installation was completed in early April.

In Redkey, ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. at Claycomb Cemetery. There will also be services at the Redkey War Mother’s Memorial Monument at 10 a.m., then at Hillcrest Cemetery at 11 a.m. Past post commander of Redkey American Legion Post 401, James Fulks, will be officiating. At 11 a.m. the Randolph County Honor Guard and Color Guard will be at Hillcrest Cemetery to perform the rifle firing and taps.

Portland American Legion Post 211 will hold services at 11 a.m. Monday at Green Park Cemetery. Pastor Darrell Borders will speak and there will be a 21-gun salute. 

Dunkirk American Legion Post 227 will have a service beginning at 11 a.m. Monday at I.O.O.F. Cemetery on county road 1250 West. Pastor Tom Fett of Dunkirk Nazarene Church will be speaking. 

There will also be a ceremony at 2 p.m. Monday at Pennville I.O.O.F. Cemetery on county road 400 North.

In Ridgeville, members of American Legion Post 507 will travel to several cemeteries throughout Monday, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Race Street Cemetery and ending at Hillcrest Cemetery.