Service of Remembrance set for Monday

The fourth annual Service of Remembrance will take place at Oak Harbor’s Maple Leaf Cemetery May 30.

On May 30, the Oak Harbor Lions Club and VFW Post 7392 are presenting the fourth annual Service of Remembrance at Oak Harbor’s Maple Leaf Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day.

The event will include color guard presentations from Oak Harbor High School NJROTC, Sons of the American Revolution, George Washington Chapter, and the ORION Squadron of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps. There will be live music by local artists and the Scottish American Military Society, a wreath laying presentation and guest speakers including: Major General Trish Rose, Captain Christopher Bahner, and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

The Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum will be displaying their aircraft carrier Nimitz model. Life Flight, a nonprofit air and ground critical care transport service, will be landing a helicopter on-site for display and to answer questions.

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NAS Whidbey Island VAQ-132 is doing a Missing Man Formation flyover which will conclude the ceremony.

“That is usually only rendered for the highest ranking officials,” said the event coordinator Kelly Davidson, who described the flyover as a “very big deal.”

Davidson has been organizing the ceremony since 2019. That first year, about 450 people attended. In 2020, she livestreamed the event and had 7800 views within the first 24 hours. People were watching from all over the world in France, Canada and South America. Last year, about 420 people attended in person and 7200 viewed online within the first 24 hours. With COVID numbers lower this year, she is expecting about 450 people to attend.

“If you don’t feel comfortable coming, that’s perfectly fine,” Davidson said. “We’re going to show it online.”

Davidson moved to Whidbey Island from South Carolina in 2018 and started working at the Wallin-Stucky Funeral home on May 1 of that year. She was working on Memorial Day and saw about a dozen people in the cemetery having a small ceremony. It wasn’t advertised anywhere and when people called Davidson to ask about it, she had no answers because she knew nothing about it.

“It was really disheartening,” she said.

Davidson began planning for next year’s Memorial Day that August. She got more community members involved and now advertises both online and in print.

“Now it’s gotten bigger and bigger and bigger,” she said.

Doors open at 9 a.m. and the event starts at 10. Lot attendants will be assisting with parking and golf cart escorts will be available for those who need assistance walking to the event space.

The ceremony can be viewed live at md22.ohlions.org or on the Oak Harbor Lions Club’s YouTube channel, where ceremonies from the last 3 years are also available to view.

“It is important that we keep the tradition alive, remembering why this holiday is important, so that it is not lost on the youth of today, who so easily take for granted how different things could be for us, and how different things are for other youth around our globe,” Davidson wrote in a statement. “It is especially true in this tight-knit military community, where several men and women you encounter casually at the grocery store or post office, have served (or are currently serving) and have stories of their own about friends they’ve lost during times of war.”

Other Whidbey Island Memorial Day events:

Memorial Day Commemoration Sunnyside Cemetery on Sat, May 28:

In observance of Memorial Day, American Legion George Morris Post 129, Veterans of Foreign Wars Whitehead-Muzzall Post 7392 and Fleet Reserve Association Branch 97 will have a Remembrance Ceremony at Sunnyside Cemetery. The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m., May 30 with each of the North Whidbey Island Veteran Service Organizations presenting their Memorial Day Commemorations. The public is welcome at this remembrance of those that fell while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

Memorial Day Parade in Coupeville

on Sat, May 28:

The chamber-sponsored parade begins at a.m., followed by Picnic at the Park, Remembrance Service and concert. In this era of uncertainty and war, we recognize how much our freedom and safety rest on the courageous sacrifices of so many men and women throughout history.

OHBA Baseball Games is Sat, May 28:

The 12U boys baseball team with the Oak Harbor Baseball Association will be wearing special jerseys in honor of Memorial Day. Each player and coach will have a name on the back of their jersey of a fallen service member. The idea for the shirts came from the head coach, Derick Lowe, a retired military service member. The games are at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Clover Valley Park fields (at the end of Oak Harbor Road and Ault Field).