Memorial Day observances will be conducted across the North Olympic Peninsula throughout the three-day weekend.
Chimacum
• Chimacum High School will host a Memorial Day program for local veterans, community members and the student body at 1:15 p.m. today in the auditorium at Chimacum High School, 91 West Valley Road, Chimacum.
The program will feature a keynote address from Col. Pat Garrett, U.S. Marine Corps, retired, and performances by the school’s Cowboy band and drumline.
Chimacum history students will share presentations about heroes who have fallen in service to the country, including Chimacum alumnus Ralph Henry Keil, who died at Pearl Harbor.
Keil will receive a posthumous diploma with the Class of 2025 at next month’s commencement ceremony.
Forks
• The Forks American Legion Post will conduct a Memorial Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday at the Forks Cemetery on Cemetery Avenue.
The service will include a speaker, a gun salute and the playing of Taps.
The public is invited to attend.
Following the memorial service, the Post invites the public to view military memorabilia and hear firsthand accounts from local veterans from noon to 3 p.m. at the Rainforest Arts Center.
Port Townsend
• The Port Townsend Summer Band will open its 33rd season with a Memorial Day concert at 11:30 a.m. Monday.
The concert will kick off the annual Memorial Day observance at the American Legion Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26, 209 Monroe St., Port Townsend.
The public is invited to attend the free performance.
• The Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26 American Legion, Elks Lodge 317 and the Bruce F. Matheson Post 7498 Veterans of Foreign Wars will conduct wreath-laying ceremonies at East Jefferson County cemeteries on Monday.
Honor guards and flag lines will be present and will fire rifle salutes and play taps.
The schedule for services is:
Sound View Cemetery, on East Marrowstone Road in Nordland, at 8 a.m.
Chimacum Cemetery, 9099 state Highway 19, Chimacum, at 9 a.m.
Fort Worden Cemetery, 1300-1398 W. St., Port Townsend, at 10 a.m.
Laurel Grove Cemetery, Cemetery Street, Port Townsend, at 10:30 a.m.
St. Mary’s Cemetery, San Juan Avenue and 42nd Street, Port Townsend, at 11 a.m.
At noon, a Memorial Day program will follow the Port Townsend Summer Band’s concert at the American Legion Hall.
This year’s ceremony will begin at noon with a call to order, the advance of the colors, Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem, an opening prayer, the Missing In Action table ceremony, a hymn, Memorial Day address, a medley of service song medley, a closing prayer, sounding of taps and post-ceremony music.
This year’s ceremony will begin with military honors for Legionnaire Charles Fauls, a Navy veteran who died in March.
A wreath-laying ceremony at City Dock, next to Pope Marine Park, will follow the ceremonies at the Legion Hall.
Sequim
• The Jack Grennan American Legion Post 62, assisted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4760, will conduct Memorial Day services starting at 11 a.m. Monday at Sequim View Cemetery, 1505 Sequim-Dungeness Way.
American Legion members will then hold short ceremonies at Jamestown Cemetery (end of Jake Hall Road) at noon, Dungeness Cemetery, 2153 Lotzgesell Road, at 12:45 p.m., and Blue Mountain Cemetery, 1986 Blue Mountain Road, at 1:30 p.m.
VFW post 4760 will host a ceremony at Gardiner Cemetery, 137 Gardiner Cemetery Road, at 12:30 p.m. That is where Medal of Honor recipient Marvin Shields is buried.
Flags will be set out on veterans’ graves at Sequim View and Dungeness cemeteries at 9 a.m. on Saturday and recovered at 4 p.m. on Monday.
• The city of Sequim will host “The Things We Keep,” a Memorial Day tribute, at 2 p.m. Monday in the Guy Cole Center at Carrie Blake Park, 202 N. Blake Ave., Sequim.
The city, in collaboration with local veteran service organizations, will display medals, uniforms and photographs to honor those who have served.
Members of the public and the veterans’ organizations are encouraged to bring their items to the center from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. to set up displays.
The program will begin with a wreath-laying ceremony and music from the Sequim City Band quartet. Mementos will be on display until 3:30 p.m.
For more information, call Emma Jane Garcia, assistant manager of Parks and Events, at 360-582-2458 or email ejgarcia@sequimwa.gov.
Port Angeles
• Veterans of Foreign Wars Carlsborg Post 6787 will host a Memorial Day Ceremony at 9 a.m. Monday in Veterans Circle at the Mount Angeles Memorial Park, 45 Monroe Road, Port Angeles.
The observance will honor the men and women of the U.S. armed forces who gave their lives in service to our country.
“Memorial Day is a sacred day to all veterans,” Post Commander Dave Yarnchak said. “By honoring the nation’s war dead, we preserve their memory by honoring their service and sacrifice.”
Highlights of the ceremony will include:
• A Flag Line formed by the American Legion Riders Post 29, encircling Veterans Circle.
• A three-volley rifle salute by Mount Olympus Detachment Marine Corps League #897.
• Echo Taps by the American Legion Riders.
• Amazing Grace performed on bagpipes.
• Musical performances by Juan de Fuca Harmony.
• A wreath-laying ceremony by local nonprofit and veteran organizations.
The public is invited to assist by placing small U.S. flags at 9 a.m. Saturday at Mount Angeles Memorial Park and at 10 a.m. Saturday at Ocean View Cemetery, 3127 W. 18th St., Port Angeles.
Volunteers also are invited to return at 4 p.m. Monday to help collect the flags from both cemeteries
• The Captain Joseph House will conduct its 14th Memorial Day Service for fallen soldiers at 4 p.m. Monday.
The annual ceremony will be outdoors at the house, 1108 S. Oak St., Port Angeles.
The Captain Joseph House is a respite center for families who have lost loved ones in combat since 9/11.
The service will include a color guard, a piper, vocalists, a brass band, a keynote speaker and tours of the house.
