By Peyton Dauley
On Memorial Day, residents of Mashpee gathered in the Veteran’s Garden across from Town Hall to honor the veterans and active members of the military from their town. The ceremony started at 10:00 on Monday morning, and proceeded for half an hour.
Mashpee Middle-High School’s band started the event with a performance of “Armed Forces on Parade,” which features songs representing all the branches of the military. Also from Mashpee High, graduating senior and valedictorian Celia Krefter performed the National Anthem as Boy Scouts lowered the flag to half-mast.
On Memorial Day, residents of Mashpee gathered in the Veteran’s Garden across from Town Hall to honor the veterans and active members of the military from their town. The ceremony started at 10:00 on Monday morning, and proceeded for half an hour.
Mashpee Middle-High School’s band started the event with a performance of “Armed Forces on Parade,” which features songs representing all the branches of the military. Also from Mashpee High, graduating senior and valedictorian Celia Krefter performed the National Anthem as Boy Scouts lowered the flag to half-mast.
An invocation was delivered by Reverend Heather Bailes Baker, who cited the importance of pausing to remember fallen heroes and veterans of wars. Following Baker, VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post Commander Steve Koglin gave a speech, stating that “Whether the people we remember served in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the war on terrorism, or any place or time in between, we say thank you for the freedom that you have given us. We are here because of you.”
Cheri Peters, the Women’s Auxiliary President, also spoke to the crowd on Monday, reminding the audience that everyday is Memorial Day, and that everyone should make an effort to thank a veteran for their service. Mashpee Selectman John Cahalane added to this message, stating, “Mashpee will never forget its debt [to veterans].”
Time was given to honor the Gold Star families of Mashpee and to remember those who lost their lives in war. Scouts placed yellow roses upon the memorial stones of Alicia (Finklea) Birchett, Paul Conlon, Vernon Hayes, Eric Jones, David Lewis, Daniel McGuire, Ferdinand Mills, Steven Peters, and Clinton Springer II. The poem “A Litany of Remembrance” by Rabbi Sylvan Kamens and Rabbi Jack Riemer was read to the crowd.
At the end of the ceremony, Mashpee’s veterans marched around the Garden with the Boy Scouts, and continued down Great Neck Road North, ending Mashpee’s annual Memorial Day Ceremony.