Southeast Texas observes Memorial Day

Monday, May 30, is Memorial Day and Southeast Texans are planning various events to commemorate heroes who lost their lives defending this great country and American values. Whether gathering with family and friends at a backyard barbecue or a formal wreath-laying ceremony, Americans throughout the nation will be taking time to remember those men and women who sacrificed all for freedom.

During a Beaumont City Council meeting May 24, Ward 4 Councilmember Charles Durio read from a proclamation naming May 30 as “Memorial Day in Beaumont” and inviting guests to attend the annual tribute at Forest Lawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park at 10 a.m. Monday morning.

“As Americans, we are blesses by a rich tradition of freedom that is envied the world over, and that freedom is guarded every day by the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to protect us,” Durio said before announcing the event at Forest Lawn.

For years now, General Manager Danny Blanchard and now-retired City of Beaumont Mayor’s Assistant Barbara Otto have coordinated a Memorial Day Ceremony and Flag Retirement event at Forest Lawn. The event begins in the chapel, and then guests are escorted across the street to the Veterans Memorial Wall in the cemetery, where a wreath is laid in honor of the fallen.

“It’s going to be a beautiful ceremony,” Otto anticipated preceding the event. “We will commemorate those who are missing in action, and we will be laying the wreath at the Memorial Wall. We have two speakers for the event. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant William Orlick will speak, and then Beaumont’s own retired U.S. Army Colonel Greg Baine. We are very proud of Col. Baine here and really look forward to Staff Sgt. Orlick joining us, too.”

The event begins at Forest Lawn, 4955 Pine St. in Beaumont, at 10 a.m. in the chapel.

While Forest Lawn is hosting its annual event in Beaumont, the Vidor Rotary Club will be placing flags along the roadway leading to Veterans Memorial Park in Vidor, located adjacent to the Raymond Gould Community Center at 385 Claiborne St. near the street’s intersection to Interstate 10. They will start the project Friday evening, May 27, and place as many flags as they can between then and 6 p.m. on Memorial Day.

Also in Beaumont, Magnolia Ceremony will be honoring those lost in service to the country on Saturday, May 28, beginning at 11 a.m. Flags provided by Troop 1981 will be available for placement, and Pipkin Park Troop 1971 will perform Honor Color Guard duties.