From honoring the sacrifice of soldiers to the splashy good fun of the opening of the Donner Aquatic Center in Columbus, the Memorial Day weekend offers a variety of ways to make the holiday meaningful.
Here’s a quick overview to help you plan for the upcoming holiday weekend:
The Columbus Indiana Philharmonic SALUTE! concert
7 p.m. Friday, Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans lawn, Second and Jackson streets in downtown Columbus, free. The orchestra, under the direction of music director David Bowden, will perform a broad range of patriotic favorites, including a collection of World War I-era timeless tunes via vocalist Rick Vale of Anderson.
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Donner Aquatic Center season opening
Noon to 6 p.m. Saturday through Monday, 739 22nd St. in Columbus. Admission: children 2 and younger, free; children 3 to 5 years old, $3; children 6-17 years old, $5; adults 18 and older, $6. Information: 812-376-2683 or columbusparksandrec.com/activities-and-programs/aquatics/.
Wreath ceremony
9 a.m. Monday, Tossing of wreaths into East Fork White River from the Robert N. Stewart Bridge by the Bartholomew County Honor Guard and members of the auxiliaries of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign War organizations. This ceremony is specifically held to commemorate Navy personnel buried at sea.
Cemetery ceremony
10 a.m. Monday, Traditional ceremony honoring local veterans in the veterans sections of Garland Brook Cemetery, where more than 3,000 veterans are buried. Held annually since 1972.
Bartholomew County Memorial Day Program
11 a.m. Monday, Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans, Second and Jackson streets: Keynote speaker is Eli Edwards, Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School graduating senior and incoming Air Force Academy freshman. This will include recognition of area Gold Star mothers Deb Kleinschmidt, mother of late U.S. Marine Sgt. Jeremy McQueary, killed in Afghanistan in 2010, and Kimberly Thompson, mother of U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathon Hunter, killed in 2017 in Afghanistan.
Hope American Legion Post 229 with assistance from Boy Scout Troop 543
All events Monday
» 8:30 a.m., Sharon Cemetery
» 8:50 a.m., Newbern Cemetery, North County Road 700E
» 9:15 a.m., Hartsville square, Indiana 46
» 9:40 a.m., Hawcreek Church Cemetery, Stafford Road and County Road 900 East.
» 10 a.m., Simmons Cemetery, North County Road 625E
» 10:15 a.m., Old St. Louis Cemetery, North County Road 670E
» 10:30 a.m., Hawcreek Bridge, Jackson Street
» 11 a.m., Hope Moravian Cemetery Veterans Memorial, Race Street, Hope.
The John B. Anderson Camp #223 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Department of Indiana
Memorial Day services to honor the Veterans of the Civil War are planned at the following cemeteries located in Bartholomew County:
» Columbus City Cemetery, between 16th and 19th streets: 9 a.m. Monday at the GAR Monument west of the caretaker’s building, in the middle of the cemetery.
» Springer Cemetery, U.S. 31 and East County Road 475S: 10 a.m. Monday at the John B. Anderson gravesite, which is west of the chapel building in the northwest corner of the cemetery. Springer Cemetery is located in Bartholomew County south of Columbus at the corner of U.S. 31 and East County Road 475S.
» Newsom Cemetery, 7800 block of East County Road 400S: 11 a.m. Monday at the Jariah B. Dinkins gravesite.
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Coming Thursday, The Republic will look at how the city served the country with its military air base, originally named Atterbury Army Air Field and later renamed Bakalar Air Force Base, in a 24-page special section, Salute.
The section details the air base’s construction and opening 75 years ago in 1943, its use during wartime and peacetime, its closure and handover to the city in the early 1970s, and its eventual repurposing as the city’s airport.
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