MOUNT CARMEL - Mount Carmel Area Joint Veterans Committee met Saturday, May 7, at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2110, where they held nominations and elections of officers. Elected at the meeting were Ann Ray Begis, president; James Kealy, vice president; William Begis, treasurer; David Berezovske, secretary; Walter Summers, chaplain, and Andrew Bubnis, Joseph Lutcavage, Robert Nahodil and Ronald Halcovich, trustees.
Summers read the opening and closing prayers and Begis led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. Begis gave the treasurers' report and Berezovske read the minutes of the previous meeting.
The committee discussed Memorial Day programs in Mount Carmel.
Memorial Day weekend events
On Sunday, the "Changing of the Colors" flag ceremony was held in honor and memory of Civil War veteran Daniel Fessler who served as a private with Company I, 151st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Also participating in the service were reenactors of the 149th Pennsylvania "Bucktails" Volunteer Infantry. Following the service, the committee attended the rededication of the memorials in Locust Gap.
American flags will be placed on the lamp posts on Oak Street Tuesday. Those participating will meet at the VFW at 10 a.m.
On Saturday, veterans' graves will be decorated at local cemeteries, beginning at St. Mary's Cemetery, Beaverdale. Those interested in helping with this activity will meet at the VFW at 10 a.m. Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from Mount Carmel will be assisting again this year.
The Memorial Day Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Divine Redeemer Church. Area veterans, VFW Ladies' Auxiliary and Fourth Degree Knights of Bishop Lawrence F. Schott Assembly 959 will meet at 10:15 a.m. at the church.
Ceremonies, parade
Activities on Memorial Day will begin at 8:15 a.m. at American Legion Post 91, Avenue and Maple streets. Wreaths will be placed at the memorial dedicated to Mount Carmel veterans. A volley of shots will be fired, "Taps" will be sounded by members of the Mount Carmel Area High School Band and the flag will be lowered to half-staff.
Following the ceremony, participants will assemble on Maple Street and, led by Mount Carmel Borough and township police cruisers, will march south on Maple Street to Second Street and then east on Second to Oak Street for services at the memorials at Susquehanna Bank. Marchers will be met by the high school band, directed by Bernard Stellar. The band will play, wreaths will be placed, a volley of shots will be fired, "Taps" will be sounded and the flag will be lowered to half-staff.
For the second year, Robert Sokol, Sherman, will participate in the parade with his restored World War II 1943 Ford Jeep. Sokol is a 1952 graduate of Mount Carmel High School. Also riding in the jeep will be U.S. Navy veterans of World War II John Hirsch and Charles Noskoviak and U.S. Marine Corps Korean War veteran Walter Summers.
The parade will march east on Second Street to Hickory Street, south on Hickory to Third Street, and west on Third to Oak Street for services at the World War I plaque on Union National Bank. Again, there will be music, a volley of shots and "Taps."
Joined by emergency vehicles, the parade will proceed west on Third Street to Saint Mary's Cemetery, where Knights of Columbus Bishop Lawrence F. Schott Assembly 959 will hold a service at the memorial to the late bishop.
The parade will then head to Mount Carmel Cemetery, where the American Legion will have its service at the grave of Harry I. Geist, the post namesake. Geist was a corporal with Company B, First United States Engineers, who was killed in action in France during World War I on July 20, 1918. Also in the cemetery, James A. Garfield Camp No. 34, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will hold a service at the grave of Civil War veteran Patrick Matthew Ward, who served as a private with Company G, 129th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. At both sites, wreaths will be placed, "Taps" will be sounded and a volley of shots will be fired.
Following services at Mount Carmel Cemetery, those assembled will travel to Saint Joseph's Cemetery, Locust Gap, where the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 129 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2110 will hold services. Beginning at 11 a.m., food will be provided by the American Legion for all those who participated.