MEMORIAL DAY ACTIVITIES | Around the area

MAHONING COUNTY

Austintown: The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. Monday and follow a route from Marc’s parking lot at the corner of Mahoning Avenue and Idaho Road to Fitch High School Veterans Memorial.

A commemorative service will begin at 11 a.m., sponsored by the Austintown American Legion Post 301 and VFW Post 4237. The master of ceremonies, Past Commander Joseph L. McCormick, will introduce the main speaker, past Commander Russ Reuthe of Austintown American Legion Post 301.

Boardman: A Memorial Day parade will form at 9:30 a.m. at Boardman Center Middle School and will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, proceeding to the Maag Outdoor Arts Theatre, Boardman Township Park, where a service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Ed Enterline, WW II Navy Veteran, will be the grand marshal and speaker. The Rev. David Joachim of Westminster Presbyterian Church will give the invocation. Mark Luke, a member of Boardman Kiwanis, will be the master of ceremonies. Lt. Col. Bill Moss, USAF Retired, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance and place a wreath in honor of deceased veterans. The National Honor Society of Boardman High School will place a wreath in honor of military personnel serving throughout the world. The Boardman Spartan Marching Band will march in the parade and the Boardman Spartan Symphonic Band will provide music for the memorial service. There will be a fly-over by the 910th Air Force Reserve, Vienna. In 1985 a plaque was made to honor Boardman Veterans who died in Vietnam, and this plaque will be dedicated. In event of rain, the service will be held in Boardman Middle School Auditorium.

Campbell: The annual Memorial Day Program Monday will be sponsored by American Legion F.D.R. Post 560, Charles Koulianos, commander, and Earl Putko, commander of VFW Post 4723. Chairman of the program is Dominic Medina. Robert M. Walls, principal of Campbell Elementary, will be the keynote speaker. Participants in the parade are asked to meet at 8 a.m. at the legion hall. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. at St. John Cemetery and will proceed to Archangel Michael, St. John Russian, St. Nicholas, St. Michael and Pioneer Methodist cemeteries for services. A program will be held at Campbell Memorial High School monument at 11 a.m. Refreshments will be served after the services at American Legion Hall Post 560.

Lowellville: American Legion Post 247 will host the Memorial service at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cemetery at 10 a.m. Monday. After the service, refreshments will be served at Lowellville City Hall. The speaker will be Walter Duzzny, director of Mahoning County Emergency Management.

New Middletown: Parade at 10 a.m. Monday. Lineup will be at 9:30 a.m. at Springfield High School and will proceed to Springfield Elementary. There will be a memorial and taps at the flag pole.

North Lima: Memorial Day will be observed in Beaver Township on Monday with activities sponsored by the township trustees and Beaver Township Ruritan Club. Area veterans are invited to participate. The parade will form at 10 a.m. at Route 165, between Routes 164 and 7. Judging and award presentations will take place at 10:30 a.m. Parade participants will move out at 11 a.m. and march to the township memorial, where state Sen. John Boccieri will speak.

Poland: American Legion Mahoning Valley Post 15 will be honoring America’s fallen Monday. Line-up will begin at 8:45 a.m. at Baird Mitchell Field. Squadron 15 Four Chaplains Memorial Service at the Post Home will be at 9 a.m. and the parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Lee and Cortland streets. At 10:15 a.m. there will be a memorial service at the Main Street Bridge for those lost at sea, and at 10:30 a.m. a service will be held in Riverside Cemetery. The Four Chaplains, Lt. George L. Fox, Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Lt. John P. Washington and Lt. Clark V. Poling, unselfishly gave their lifejackets to four others when their ship, the USTA Dorchester, sank after being torpedoed by a German submarine. They were last seen linked arm in arm when their ship sank into icy black waters.

Struthers: Veterans organizations in Struthers will begin services at 9 a.m. Monday at the Korean War Bridge over the Mahoning River. Commander Jerry Arendas of VFW Post 7538 will place a wreath in the Mahoning River remembering those that served in the Navy, which will be followed by a short prayer service and taps by World War II veteran Joe Pavlov. The program will take place beneath the bridge. The next service will begin at 10 a.m. at the newly dedicated Struthers Veterans Memorial at the high school with the invocation by Pastor Cyrus Mad Bondo of Baptist Tabernacle Church of Struthers. Past District VIII Commander Ray Ornelas will remember the POWs and MIAs missing man table. Struthers High School Band will play and the speaker will be Sen. John Boccieri who serves as major with the 910th Air Wing in Vienna and has done two tours in Iraq. A wreath will be placed at the memorial by Commander Jim Dill and Ladies President Irma Brosichek of VFW Post 3538, Commander Jerry Arendas and President Dorothy McLaughlin of VFW Post 7538 and Commander Donna Burford of American Legion Post 168. Taps will be played by Joe Pavlov.

Youngstown: The Struthers Marching Band will lead the parade from the Midlothian Boulevard entrance of Lake Park Cemetery, through an avenue of American Flags to the soldiers section at 11 a.m. where Commander Donna Burford will open ceremonies. Judge Robert Milich, retired Air Force Lt. Colonel, will be the speaker. He serves on the Air Force Academy Board and in Veterans Affairs of Youngstown. There will also be taps and a 21 gun salute. Parking is available.

Bethel Assembly of God, 3807 Mahoning Ave., invites all to “Remembering Our Heroes,” a Memorial Day musical presentation at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Adult choir, children’s choir and video footage honoring each military branch, concluding with an open-to-all communion service.

VFW Post 6488 and the Ladies Auxiliary will hold the annual Memorial Day Service Monday at 1 p.m. at VFW Post 6488, 2065 Coitsville-Hubbard Road, with a tribute to the unforgotten heroes — the widows of our departed comrades. The keynote speaker will be Honorable Judge Joseph J. Vukovich, 7th District Court of Appeals and Vietnam veteran. A tribute and presentation will be made by Anthony Traficanti and David Ludt, Mahoning County commissioners; and Barry Langraver, director of the Veterans Service Commission. Dinner will be served. There is no cover charge.

TRUMBULL COUNTY

Brookfield: Memorial Day parade will begin forming at 9 a.m. behind Brookfield Middle School on Grove Street. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Grove Street to state Route 7 to the Brookfield Township Cemetery. A veterans memorial service will be held below the flag pole at the back of the cemetery immediately after the parade.

Fowler: The township will hold its Memorial Day observance Monday. Services will be at 10 a.m. at Fowler United Methodist Church. This will be followed by an 11 a.m. parade and a service conducted on the green by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3521. A light lunch will be served at the fire station. Butts House Museum and the 1952 Town Hall will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Girard: Memorial Day services will be held at Girard City Cemetery at 10 a.m. Monday. Rev. James Kora, pastor of St. Rose Church, will offer the invocation and benediction. The main speaker will be Master Sergeant John P. Wood, a graduate of Niles-McKinley High School, who served in active duty in the Air Force from 1987 to 1991. In 1993 he joined the Air Force reserve and is supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has been an Air Force Reserve recruiter in Cleveland for the past three years.

Services at cemeteries and war memorials in the Liberty-Girard area have been scheduled by the Girard Veterans Council for Sunday: 9 a.m., Seceders Corners; 9:15 a.m., Churchill Cemetery; 9:30 a.m., Liberty Park; 9:45 a.m., Belmont Cemetery; 10:15 a.m., Multi-Generational Center; 10:45 a.m., Welsh Hill; 11:15 a.m., Girard viaduct; 11:30 a.m., Girard City Memorial.

McDonald: The village’s annual Memorial Day program is set to get under way at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Woodland Park Memorial. Air Force Sgt. David Oesch, a veteran of the war in Iraq, will be guest speaker, and a parade featuring the McDonald High School band will precede the ceremony. In case of inclement weather, services will be at Ramsey Memorial Pavilion.

Newton Falls: Parade and services will be Monday with Raymond L. Hanzes, Trumbull County Veterans of Foreign Wars past commander and commander of VFW 3332, as master of ceremonies. Parade will line up at 10 a.m. at Arlington School and begin at 10:30 a.m. It will stop at Four Corners Memorial Park for laying of the wreath and onto West River Bridge to honor those lost at sea. A service will follow at Veterans Park with Sgt. 1st Class Mark Hutton, career counselor with the Army National Guard, the guest speaker. Local veteran posts will be holding open houses throughout the afternoon.

Vienna: The Vienna Township Memorial Day Association will hold its 67th annual Memorial Day program at Mathews High School at 12:30 p.m. Monday. The guest speaker will be Jeff Dreves, Commander of VFW Post 3521 and Vienna Township Trustee. Besides the local VFW post, AMVETS Post 290, Mathews Band, Vienna Fire Dept., Vienna Police, local Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girls Scouts and Brownies are invited to participate.

COLUMBIANA COUNTY

Columbiana: American Legion Post 290 will organize the annual Memorial Day observance. The parade will form at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Pittsburgh Street in front of Heartland School. It will proceed to Columbiana Cemetery for services. Keynote speaker will be Dr. David A. Yeropoli, a colonel in the Ohio Army National Guard Medical Corps. Dr. Yeropoli has recently returned from surgical duty in Iraq. He has served three combat tours in Iraq. In case of inclement weather, services will be at 10:30 a.m. at Columbiana High School gymnasium.

Salem: The Salem Memorial and Patriotic Association will lead the city’s 143rd Memorial Day ceremony. The day’s activities commence with a breakfast for all veterans at the Salem Chamber of Commerce, 713 E. State St., second floor, hosted by the American Legion at 8 a.m. A city-wide memorial service will be conducted outside the building at the Village Green at 9 a.m. in honor of those veterans who gave their lives for freedom. The line-up for the Memorial Day parade is at 9:30 a.m. on South Broadway Avenue. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. and will go from Broadway to State Street, Ohio Avenue and Franklin Street to Grandview Cemetery. A formal ceremony will be conducted at the cemetery with full military honors at 11 a.m. A fly-over by the 910th Air Force Reserve is scheduled (depending on weather and availability).

MERCER COUNTY

Sharon, Pa.: Sharon’s Memorial Day parade will begin at 11 a.m. Monday. The following streets are on the parade route and will be closed for about one hour: Case Avenue, from Linen to East State streets; East State Street, from Case Avenue West to North Oakland Avenue; North Oakland Avenue, north to the Oakwood Cemetery entrance; and all cross streets along this route of East State Street and North Oakland Avenue.