A Vietnam War veteran and commander for the American Legion will be the guest speaker at Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday.
The selection of Janet Wilson to speak at Woodland Cemetery services means that two women will be leading Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday locally.
Wilson is scheduled to speak around 11 a.m.
At 2 p.m., VFW Post 1985 Commander Dea McKee will be the master of ceremonies at Monument Hill Memorial Park for the region’s second service.
In other ceremonies:
•The Winters Veterans of Foreign Wars will conduct the annual Memorial Day service at the Winters Cemetery at 10 a.m. The service will include guest speaker Scott Graf, a Yolo County resident and veteran of the Vietnam War. The Welcome and Acknowledgements will be conducted by Winters Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11091 Quartermaster
The annual ceremony will include assistance from Winters Boy Scout Troop 998, Winters Girl Scout Troop 307 and Winters Junior Girl Scout Troop 3768. Miss Chaney Coman, Valedictorian of the Winters High School Class of 2015, will recite the Gettysburg Address, the speech delivered by President Abraham Lincoln, at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, on Nov. 19, 1863 which reiterated the principles of freedom, equality and democracy.
•In Davis, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6949 also hosts a Memorial Day program beginning at 11 a.m. at the Davis Veterans Cemetery.
•And near Esparto, a Memorial Day ceremony will be held by the Esparto VFW Post 7143 at the Capay Valley Cemetery on County Road 22 usually also around 11 a.m. After the ceremony there is typically a reception with refreshments held at the VFW hall on Orleans Street and Woodland Avenue in Esparto.
Preparations for the two services will actually begin on Sunday when local Scouts plant flags on the gravesites of veterans at Woodland Cemetery and at Monument Hill. Legion members and others will also place flags in the veterans section of the Woodland Cemetery along the Avenue of the Flags. Still others will be placing flags along Main Street early Monday morning.
Some 2,000 or more colorful, 18-inch tall flags will be planted in the ground next to the headstones of those who had served their country by members of Yolo Post 77 as well as volunteers at both cemeteries.
At Monument Hill, Candice Lynn Clay will be releasing her “White Doves of Love.” The white doves will serve as a reminder of those who lost their lives in the service of this country.
At Woodland Cemetery, Wilson is expected to talk about the sacrifices made by service members. Wilson is veteran of the Army during the Vietnam War era and has served in the American Legion for more than 25 years, holding all elected and appointed offices at the post, district, department and national levels.
Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May and is typically a time for veterans and those who want to remember people in service to America.
Formerly known as Decoration Day, Monday’s holiday commemorates all men and women who have died in military service. It started as an event to honor Union soldiers, who had died during the American Civil War, and was inspired by the way people in the Southern states honored their dead.
After World War I, it was extended to include all men and women, who died in any war or military action.
The current name for this day did not come into use until after World War II.
Decoration Day and then Memorial Day used to be held on May 30, regardless of the day of the week, on which it fell. But in 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends. This meant that, from 1971 on the Memorial Day holiday has been officially observed on the last Monday in May. However, it took a longer period for all American states to recognize the new date.