From 5K races to flag ceremonies and tributes, Memorial Day weekend will be busy across the Golden Triangle as cities pay homage to fallen service members.
Columbus
Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau will kick off Memorial Day weekend at 9 a.m. Friday with a flag placement ceremony at Sandfield Cemetery, which will be held in conjunction with local posts of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
On Saturday, events begin at 8 a.m. with the Kiwanis Memorial Weekend 5K Benefit Run. The race starts and ends in the parking lot of the CVB office at 117 Third St. S., behind the Tennessee Williams Home and Welcome Center.
Registration for the race costs $20 and is available on the Kiwanis Club of Columbus website. Proceeds benefit My Book of Lowndes County, a program that provides free books to first-graders in the area.
After the 5K, flags will be placed on veterans’ graves at Friendship Cemetery, followed by the CVB’s inaugural Memorial Day program at 10 a.m.
The program will include remarks from Mayor Keith Gaskin, a reading on the history of Memorial Day in Columbus by Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones and a poetry reading by Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens, who represents Ward 2.
Kyia King with the Columbus Arts Council, will sing the “Star Spangled Banner.” Suzuki Strings of Columbus will perform “Amazing Grace.”
The Boy Scouts of America Troop 2 will raise the flag and present the colors.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the CVB will host a Traditions, Taste and Tunes event at Riverwalk Stage, featuring live music, food trucks and a flyover by Columbus Air Force Base.
Gaskin, who will read opening remarks during the program, said he is looking forward to hosting a formal Memorial Day commemoration.
“Columbus is very proud to be considered one of the locations where Memorial Day began,” Gaskin said. “We believe we are the reason that Memorial Day exists today. … I’m glad that we are doing something formal this year because it’s an important day to remember, and it’s a day that Columbus should be very proud of.”
Frances Glenn, director of the CVB, said she hopes to make the program an annual event in the future.
Starkville
Flag placements will be held at Odd Fellows Cemetery and Memorial Garden Park at 8 a.m. Friday and will be led by the local American Legion and VFW posts.
The Greater Starkville Development Partnership’s Military Affairs Committee will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday outside the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.
Speakers will include Mayor Lynn Spruill, Board of Supervisors President Marvell Howard, Mississippi State University Executive Vice Provost Peter Ryan and keynote speaker Willie Earl Thomas of the American Legion.
Boy Scout Troop 14 and Girl Scout Troop 142 will assist with presenting the colors, bearing wreaths and raising the flag. The Starkville High School choir will perform the national anthem, and Sasha Harvey of Girl Scout Troop 142 will perform “Taps.”
The event will also include the reading of Oktibbeha County veteran names, which are inscribed on the monument.
U.S. Army veteran Jeff Donald, co-chair of the Military Affairs Committee, has organized the memorial event since 2004. Donald expressed the importance of honoring fallen veterans.
“None of those soldiers wanted to die, but they were willing to die for their fellow soldier, for their family and for this country,” Donald said. “They don’t leave a wounded warrior behind, and we don’t forget those who died in service to our country.”
West Point
City Administrator Randy Jones will host his annual Memorial Day program at noon May 30. The event is scheduled to be held at City Hall but may move to the Civic Center on Sixth Street if ongoing construction is not complete.
The program’s centerpiece is a 20-minute video recognizing Clay County veterans who have passed away. Jones said the list now includes 1,850 names, 29 of whom died in the past year.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
