At Home in the Huddle 2009: Tuesday Re-post

(I don't know whether to be amused or not: having "lost" the first blog post that I put together and then spent an hour composing it for the second time, I've discovered that the original has returned. I could erase it, but ............ I won't .......... that could be tempting another fateful failure!)

Memorial Day

(click to enlarge.)

On Main Street, crowds had begun to arrive soon after 8:00, with many wearing red, white and blue and carrying small American Flags.

While onlookers gathered, Nancy Ayala (I've been told) played patriotic songs on the bells in the tower of the Masonic Temple.

........ and in Monument Park, DJ Don Brown II had his amplification equipment in place filling the air with the long-ago but still familiar sounds of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary," "Over Hill, Over Dale, we shall hit the dusty trail..." "The White Cliffs of Dover" and "We'll Meet Again."

The bronze soldier waited ..........

The parade began, and unit after unit reached the Park ..........

One of the larger contingents was the Waterville J.V. Marching Band.

By the time the High School Marching Band and Color Guard had arrived, plus all of the people who had been standing along Main Street, the Park was full!

After the ceremonial draping of a POW MIA flag on a single chair placed all by itself at the base of the monument, Rebecca Maggio, President of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Clifford J. Fulmer Post #92 of the American Legion, dedicated the day's Ceremony to those of our community who died in battle.

WWI
Clifford J Fulmer

("Waterville's First Hero," Fulmer had enlisted when he was 17 and was killed during a major campaign in France just after he had turned 19.)

WWII
Robert Blair - Killed in Action
Royce G Cook - Killed in Action
Edward Crowe - Missing in Action
Delos Tuffey - Killed in Action
Francis Tuffey - Died in a Prisoner of War Camp in the Philippines
Elwyn (Max) Wilbur - Missing in Action
Harry Madsen - Missing in Action
Stanley Chrzanowski -Killed in Action

KOREAN WAR
Leslie Jones - Missing in Action

VIET NAM WAR
William Reese

2ND IRAQ WAR
John Sigsbee - Killed in Action

The primary speaker was Attorney Mark Barnes. In closing his predictably clear and meaningful remarks, he asked the assemblage to show their gratitude to the many veterans who were present, and a loud and lasting applause followed that request.

I was not situated where I could take a picture of everyone in that honored row, but Richard S. Woodman was there .............

..... and Don Hazard and Lou Langone and Bill O'Dowd and Jack Youngs .........

....... as was Master Sgt. Miss Helen Voll, who had enlisted in the Women's Auxiliary Corps (the WACS) as soon as she was old enough, following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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The salute.

WCS trumpeter Joel Kahn echoed Jared Waufle in the traditional playing of TAPS with a dual performance so perfect as to leave listeners in chilled, yet appreciative, silence.

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Around noontime, it seemed that The Legion's Chicken BBQ and then Chittening Pond or Nine Mile Swamp were the places to be!

Later, I discovered that Fr. Tom's front porch garden has been planted:

the show's begun!

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TODAY

FROM WKTV: "Chilly this morning! Some of the coldest spots across the region are reporting patchy frost. Expect sunshine to continue this morning and early afternoon, with highs in the upper 60s to near 70. Clouds will start to move in from the south this afternoon, and eventually some rain showers late in the day. Expect rain showers to break out after 7 PM this evening from south to north. Cloudy with rain showers tonight, with lows only in the low 50s.

Tropical moisture from the south will continue to advance through Central New York tomorrow. Expect cloudy skies with occasional rain showers and maybe a rumble of thunder. Highs only expected to be in the 60s. Some sunshine is expected Thursday with the chance of rain showers or a thunderstorm. Highs a bit warmer, in the low 70."

FOR THE RECORD