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City Memorial Day event making triumphant return

Every Memorial Day is special in honoring and remembering those who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces, but a holiday program Monday in Mount Airy will be even more significant than usual.

“It’s the first public event that the city has been able to have,” Mayor Ron Niland said Friday of traditional large gatherings including those highlighting military service which have been missing in action from a COVID-19 artillery barrage of sorts.

Those casualties included a city Memorial Day observance last May limited to a wreath laying by two Mount Airy Honor Guard members witnessed by a handful of citizens, and a vastly scaled-down and socially distanced Veterans Day program in November.

But Monday’s Memorial Day event will mark a return to the full-fledged observances of the past with a slate of activities such an occasion deserves, Niland indicated.

“It’s just exciting to be back out and return to normalcy,” he said.

The program is scheduled for 10 a.m. at its familiar location, the Mount Airy War Memorial on the corner of South Main and Rockford streets, with sunny skies forecast.

Everyone is invited to the event that will feature patriotic activities including a raising of the flag, the national anthem, a flag-folding ceremony, the reading of a special Memorial Day proclamation, a rifle volley salute and the placing of a wreath at the monument bearing the names of Surry County’s war dead.

“I’m excited that we’re going to have an event on Monday, that we’ll actually be able to gather together in person,” said Niland. He was just appointed to be the city’s chief executive on May 20 by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners after serving as mayor pro tem in the wake of Mayor David Rowe’s resignation in October.

Niland will play a key role in the Memorial Day observance, including serving as its emcee.

The schedule includes:

• A call to order by Mayor Niland;

• The raising of the American flag by the Mount Airy Honor Guard;

• A performance of the national anthem by Cassidy Mills of Gentry Middle School;

• A group recital of the Pledge of Allegiance;

• An invocation by former Mayor Deborah Cochran;

• The reading of the holiday proclamation by Mayor Niland;

• Remarks by guest speaker Arlis Thomas, a U.S. Army/Vietnam veteran;

• The placing of the wreath by the city Honor Guard;

• A flag-folding ceremony by the North Surry High School Air Force Junior ROTC featuring cadets McCain Griffith, Kayle Moore, Luther Wagoner, Jesse Willard and MacKenzie Yoder;

• A rifle volley salute by members of two local Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Honor Guard units, from Mount Airy VFW Post 2019 and Pilot Mountain Post 9436;

• The playing of “Taps” by the two Honor Guard units.

“Please join us for this Memorial Day service,” says a statement issued to the public by City Clerk Nicki Brame, who has organized such programs for years.

“This event offers citizens a chance to recognize, honor and remember military men and women in protection of our country today and in the past.”

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Source: https://www.mtairynews.com

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