Granville to hold annual Memorial Day ceremony May 30
This Memorial Day, May 30, Granville will commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation for the 154th year.
The event will start with brief memorial ceremonies and rifle salutes at several outlying area cemeteries conducted by American Legion Post 398. The ceremony at Granville’s Old Colony Burying Ground Cemetery will be performed by the Hocking Valley Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution at 9:30 a.m. The formal ceremony will kick off with the traditional parade, which will assemble at the corner of Broadway and Main Street. The parade will begin at 10:40 a.m. and march to the Maple Grove Cemetery. The formal program will start at 11 a.m. Patriotic music will be performed by the Granville High School Marching band, and the Land of Legend Chorus for the Parade and the program. The invocation and benediction will be delivered by Pastor Tom Pound of Spring Hills Baptist Church. Granville’s scout troops and several Granville High School students will also participate in the event.
This year’s keynote speaker is Granville Village Manager Herb Koehler. Koehler became the village manager in November 2019 following a distinguished military career where he retired after nearly 25 years of service as a U.S. Army Colonel.
In the Army, he served in a variety of command and staff assignments culminating as commander of the 595th Transportation Brigade in Camp Arifjan Kuwait. His brigade provided oversight to deployment and distribution operations spanning 20 countries across the Middle East, and military port management of 13 major seaports and four aerial ports. His experience includes four major deployments throughout the Middle East including both Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
He is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Ohio University and holds Masters Degrees from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College, as well as professional certifications from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
Following Koehler’s address, American Legion Post 398 of Granville will fire the traditional rifle salute, which will be followed by the playing of Taps. The flag, which is traditionally flown at half staff during the morning hours to honor our deceased veterans, will be raised to full staff.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville to hold annual Memorial Day ceremony May 30
