OBSERVER Staff Report
A number of communities will be holding Memorial Day services throughout the region. Here is a list of some planned events.
BROCTON/PORTLAND
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In preparation for Memorial Day Weekend, volunteers took time to replace worn or missing flag holders and place American flags at the Evergreen Cemetery in the Town of Portland. The Interact Club of the Brocton Central School, members of the Brocton American Legion Post 434 family checked and replaced when necessary flag holders which indicated the grave site of veterans and the war era they served. All wars as far back as the Revolutionary War are represented in the cemetery. Time worn and damaged American Flags were also replaced. Brocton Legion Commander Henry Link said, “We probably have the best kept cemetery in the county.” There were 50 holders and about 700 American Flags to be placed to honor those that have served to protect our freedom. The American Legion Family: Henry Link, Dave Hazelton, Howard Malarkey, Deb Harriger, Leslie Tucker, John Hertlien, Jason Delcamp, Dave Travis, Dave Graham, Connor Graham, Grace Graham, Al Valentin, Woody , Interact Club Members: John Nickerson, Mark Nickerson, Kelsey Gerholdt, Morgan Bennett, Tory Harper, Ryan Mancuso, Patrick Bennett.
A ceremony honoring veterans is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Monday at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland. Fran Lus will give the invocation. Kayde Pitcher will read "Why Wear a Poppy." World War II veteran Ferris Woeleben will raise the flag. Tom White will read the names of the veterans buried in the cemetery.
Brocton mayor David Hazelton will be the main speaker. The Brocton Central School Band will perform. Ben Hornbuckle, band director, will serve as the bugler.
Following the ceremony, a light luncheon will be available at the American Legion J W Dill Post # 434 on Main Street in Brocton. All are welcome.
CASSADAGA
The American Legion Post 1280 in Cassadaga has a full day planned. Beginning after breakfast time, legion members will get on a bus and visit 12 area cemeteries, conducting a service at each. They will march in the Sinclairville parade.
At 11 a.m. they will conduct a service in Ames Common on Route 60 in the Village of Cassadaga. Following that service, there will be a community parade down Maple Avenue to the Cassadaga cemetery. Besides the American Legion units, the fire department, the scouts, the Kiwanis, and the Cassadaga Valley Central School band will participate.
Once at the cemetery, Bruce Kaus, post commander, and other dignitaries will speak. Following the program, complimentary hot dogs and soda will be available to the public at the American Legion Post on Maple Avenue.
CHERRY CREEK
The South Dayton American Legion and the Pine Valley VFW will host the Memorial Day parade starting at 10:30 a.m. The parade will start downtown at the four corners and continue to the cemetery on Route 62. There will be a memorial ceremony in the cemetery.
DUNKIRK
The Memorial Day Service and Parade will assemble Monday.
Services will begin at 10 a.m. in Memorial Park on Lake Shore Drive West and will be conducted by the participating organizations of the Dunkirk Joint Veterans Council.
The 2012 Parade Marshal is Mr. Jack Sievert, Commander, DJVC.
The Co-Parade Marshals are Mr. Leonard Catalano, Special Affairs Officer, DJVC; Mr. Joseph Ricotta, Sergeant-At-Arms, DJVC; and Mr. Michael Maslach, 1st Vice Commander, DJVC.
The 2012 Master-of-Ceremonies is Mr. John D'Agostino, Publisher, Dunkirk OBSERVER.
The 2012 Parade Commentator is Mr. David Rowley, New Director WDOE Radio.
The 2012 Grand Marshal is Mr. Arthur Casella, CPO USN (ret.)
Presenter of the 2012 Grand Marshal Plaque is Lt. Christopher Wilson, U.S. Coast Guard, Sea Partners Campaign.
Principal Speaker of this year's Memorial Day Services is Commander George Burns III, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.)
Secondary Speaker for this year's Memorial Day Services is Lt. Christopher Wilson, U.S. Coast Guard Sea Partners Campaign.
The Guest Speaker is Dr. David Banach, Captain U.S.Navy (Ret.)
The Memorial Day Parade will start at approximately 11 a.m. and proceed East on Lake Shore Drive West to Central Avenue.
The parade will turn right onto Central Avenue and proceeds South to Fifth Street. The Parade turns East on Fifth Street and disbands at Washington Park.
In case of inclement weather, the parade will be postponed for up to one hour.
Should the rain continue, Memorial Day services will be at the American Legion Post 62, 211 Central Avenue, Dunkirk.
Principal Speaker of this year's Memorial Day Services is Commander George Burns III, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.)
Secondary Speaker for this year's Memorial Day Services is Lt. Christopher Wilson, U.S. Coast Guard Sea Partners Campaign.
The Guest Speaker is Dr. David Banach, Captain U.S.Navy (Ret.)
The Memorial Day Parade will start at approximately 11 a.m. and proceed east on Lake Shore Drive West to Central Avenue.
The parade will turn right onto Central Avenue and proceeds south to Fifth Street. The Parade turns east on Fifth Street and disbands at Washington Park.
In case of inclement weather, the parade will be postponed for up to one hour.
Should the rain continue, Memorial Day services will be at the American Legion Post 62, 211 Central Avenue, Dunkirk.
FORESTVILLE
On Monday, a parade is scheduled for 10 a.m. in downtown Forestville. Post 953 of the American Legion, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Forestville High School Band, as well as the Forestville Fire Department will participate.
After the parade, a Memorial Day Service will be held at the Forestville American Legion on 6 Cedar St. Doug Allen, the singer who performs the National Anthems of the United States and Canada at Sabres games, will perform patriotic songs. The service will honor members of the military and contain the traditional 21-gun salute.
FREDONIA
Memorial services will be observed in Fredonia Monday beginning at 9 a.m. at the American Legion Memorial Post 59, 156 E. Main St., with a breakfast. Following breakfast, the group will march to the WCA home and then proceed to the monument in the park for a ceremony.
GOWANDA
The American Legion Post 409 will host a breakfast from 7 to 9 a.m. The breakfast is free to veterans of the post and $4 for non-members. The breakfast will be held at the American Legion, 100 Legion Drive, Gowanda.
The post will also host a memorial motorcycle run to leave from the legion at 9 a.m. A parade will start line-up at 10:30 a.m. and leave the legion. The parade will continue down Legion Drive to West Main Street before ending at St. Joseph's Park on Aldrich Street.
LEON
The South Dayton American Legion and the Pine Valley VFW will hold their parade starting at 9 a.m. The parade will travel from the fire hall to Memorial Park with a ceremony in Memorial Park. A civil war dedication and reading of the honor roll in the four corners will take place as well.
RIPLEY
There will be a Memorial Day service held at the East Ripley Cemetery at 10 a.m. At noon the Ripley Auxiliary is sponsoring a veterans dinner at the Ripley Fire Hall, 11 South State St., Ripley. Parade line-up will begin at 1 p.m. with the parade beginning at 1:30 p.m. There will be another Memorial Day service in Quincy Cemetery on Shaver Street at 2 p.m. with guest speaker David Himelein, District 21 County Legislator.
SHERIDAN
The town of Sheridan is holding its annual Memorial Day Services and Parade on Monday. Parade line-up is 11:30 a.m. at the Town Hall (formerly St. John Bosco Church) on Route 20. The parade will start promptly at noon and proceed down Route 20 to the cemetery on Center Road where a memorial service will be held to honor our deceased veterans. Master Sgt. Brian Schneider, United States Marine Corps, will speak.
All Sheridan residents are urged to come out in support of our deceased veterans.
In the event of inclement weather, services will be held in the Sheridan Methodist Church on Route. 20, just east of Center Road.
The Sheridan Fire Department will hold its annual chicken barbecue and fundraiser at the Sheridan Fire Hall, 2800 Route 20, immediately following the services.
SILVER CREEK
The Silver Creek Samuel Cimino VFW Post 6472 will hold Memorial Day services including a parade and ceremony. Step off will begin from Babcock Street at 10:40 a.m. and will proceed down Main Street (Route 20) to the village park, where the ceremony will be held.
Corpsman HM 2 SMS Cory Zaranek will serve as speaker at the ceremony. He has served three tours, two in Iraq and his last in Afghanistan, from which he returned last April. Zaranek is the nephew of Sunset Bay residents Diane and Alan Hall.
After the ceremony there will be hot dogs served at the VFW Post, 13 Main Street, Silver Creek, and in the park with the assistance of the First Baptist Church.
SINCLAIRVILLE
The Sinclairville American Legion David Vern Luce Post No. 778 will continue a tradition that was started in 1924 when they held their first Memorial Day Observance in Evergreen Cemetery. This 88th annual observance will be held on Monday, and will begin with the traditional parade. This year it will start near the intersection of Jamestown Street and Main Street with step off at 9 a.m. The parade lineup will be by Doug Goodwill and all wishing to participate are welcome. The parade will proceed to the Evergreen Cemetery near the Soldiers Monument for our Memorial Day Service.
This year's guest speaker is John Runkle. Runkle is a 1967 graduate of Cassadaga Valley High School. Immediately following high school, Runkle enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he served as a medic from 1967 to 1971. He served twice in Vietnam, from 1969 to 1971, attaining the rank of Sergeant while on duty.
Runkle is a retired Lieutenant of the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department, having retired in December 2009 after more than 30 years of service with the county. At the time of his retirement, Runkle was the director of the Jamestown and Dunkirk offices of the Southern Tier Regional Task Force. During his tenure as a police officer, Runkle had served in numerous capacities including a patrol officer, patrol supervisor, drug investigator and supervisor. He also served as a supervisor of both the department's SCUBA Team and Hostage Negotiation Team. Runkle also served a stint with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Buffalo as a Federal Drug Task Force Officer.
Since his retirement in 2009, Runkle has been elected twice to the Chautauqua County Legislature where he serves as a representative from District 6 which encompasses the towns of Stockton and Pomfret. His assignments on the legislature have included the Public Safety Committee and the Administrative Services Committee as well as republican Majority Leader of the Legislature. Runkle is presently the Chairman of the Legislature's Audit and Control, which oversees the financial operations of county government.
Runkle is a member of Cassadaga Memorial Post No. 1280 of the American Legion, Bemus Point VFW Post No. 557 and several Masonic organizations.
Runkle lives in Cassadaga with his wife Kathleen to whom he has been married for 38 years. They have two adult daughters, Susan and Kyla.
SOUTH DAYTON
The South Dayton American Legion and Pine Valley VFW will hold the Memorial Day parade will be held on Monday starting at noon. The parade will line up at the legion and parade down to Main Street to the village park. A memorial ceremony will be held in village park with guest speaker Cattaraugus County Legislator Paula Stockman.
WESTFIELD
The schedule for the Westfield's Memorial Day celebration is as follows:
7:30 a.m. - The flag is lowered to half mast at Moore Park
8 a.m. - Memorial service at the pier.
8:45 a.m. - Memorial service at the Catholic cemetery.
9:15 a.m. - Memorial service at Union Cemetery.
10 a.m. - The parade will organize on South Portage Street at Moore Park.
10:30 a.m. - The parade begins.
11 a.m. - The ceremony begins at the Academy Street Cemetery. The flag is raised to full mast immediately following the end of the ceremony. A short service will be held.
12:15 p.m. - Open house at both the American Legion and the VFW.
Staff members Nicole Gugino, Diane Chodan, Shirley Pulawski and Samantha McDonnell contributed to this report. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com
