Story and photos by Lisa Carolin
People lined the streets of Chelsea waving their flags on a very warm Memorial Day morning to watch the parade.
You could hear the parade coming from a few blocks away thanks to the patriotic tunes played by the Chelsea High School Marching Band and the Beach Middle School Marching Band.
Veterans carrying flags led the parade followed by the school bands and flag twirlers, and local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops.
A procession of people followed the parade as it made its way into Oak Grove Cemetery. There, flag bearing Scouts and their leaders lined the path into the cemetery on both sides of the road as part of Ray Tuck’s 50 flag salute.
Hundreds of people gathered for the ceremony, which was led by Master of Ceremonies Jeff Gunnis, who told the crowd, “I believe Memorial Day is our most important holiday on the calendar because without it, we wouldn’t have Independence Day.”
This year’s speaker was David Royer, who described the symbolism of the American Flag and also gave a history of Taps, the bugle call played by U.S. armed forces.
Royer recited some of the lyrics to Taps:
“Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.
Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.
Thanks and praise, for our days,
‘Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars, neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.
Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.
While the light fades from sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.”
