June 10 is Decoration Day
On June 10 at 2pm, the Township of Centre Wellington and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 275 Fergus will celebrate Decoration Day in Belsyde Cemetery.
The public is welcome and encouraged to attend to honour not only veterans but tend to family graves and remember loved ones.
Decoration Day began around 1890 as an act of remembrance by surviving veterans from the Battle of Ridgeway on June 2, 1866 against Irish-American insurgents at Fort Erie.
This was Canada’s first modern battle.
Decoration Day was originally planned for the Sunday closest to the June 2 anniversary of the battle and involved placing of fresh flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers and freshening the grave sites after the ravages of winter.
Legion colours will be piped into the Belsyde Cemetery from the west gate on June 10 at 1:50pm with a short service commencing at 2pm.
There will be carnations available for those wishing to place a flower on a loved one’s grave.
