Deptford will host its Memorial Day service on Sunday, May 26, beginning at 11 a.m. in the Oak Valley neighborhood.
“It’s extremely important,” said Mayor Paul Medany of the annual event. “We have to remember the men and women who have sacrificed themselves for our country since it began. We’re careful of how we word the event since it’s a day of remembrance.”
A parade will kick off the event – organized by the Deptford Veterans Committee – at Oak Valley Firehouse and continue up Princeton Boulevard. It will then make its way over to Veterans Memorial Park by Oak Valley Elementary School.
Featured will be Deptford firetrucks, members of the state police mounted unit, students in uniform from Deptford High School’s NJROTC unit and kids riding decorated bicycles for a contest. At the park, Medany, council members and a guest speaker yet to be determined will speak.
The committee will also honor the late Elmer “Buddy” Powell, a paratrooper in Vietnnam who grew up in Oak Valley and attended Deptford High. He was killed in action, according to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation. A veteran will lay a wreath at the park memorial dedicated to Powell during the Memorial Day service.
“We just rebuilt the memorial this year,” said Medany. “We put in new brick pavement and it’s practically brand new now.”
While separate from the Oak Valley event, a service will take place at Jericho Cemetery on Church Street in the Jericho section of Deptford on Monday, May 27. The annual tribute honors several local veterans buried there.
Once the Oak Valley services conclude, a barbeque will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. to usher in the summer season. But the township will emphasize that the true meaning of the day is to honor American’s war dead.
“When the veterans speak at the event, I urge the kids to listen to the soldiers talk,” Medany noted. “Most people associate Memorial Day with barbeques and the beginning of the summer season. Here in Deptford, we associate it with honoring their sacrifice.”
