by Jack Lee
Memorial Day planned events Sunday and Monday:
There will be no high school bands playing the national anthem or patriotic songs in any parks.
There will be no parades of any kind in the downtown.
There will be no fund-raisers for disabled vets or the widows and orphans of vets.
Our Mayor will offer no speeches or proclamations by the Chico City Council and no wreaths will be placed by any officials. (We have an unwritten order that calls for seperation of patriotism and government.)
There will be no individual events to honor Vietnam Vets, Iraq War Vets, Afghanistan Vets, Korean Vets, WWII Vets, WWI Vets, etc.
There will be a general Veteran’s Memorial at the Chico Cemetery on Mangrove, Monday at 10 a.m., presented by the local VFW and other veterans groups. .
In other cities, veterans will gather to make that short march down Main Street to the park or the cemetery, where taps will follow the speeches and high school bands will play patriotic songs. Wreaths will be laid at war memorials – prayers will be given by Pastors, but this is in. . . other cities. Chico would have nothing to honor vets, if it were not for the local vets themselves stepping up to honor their own. That’s also what it took to get our one vet memorial in the downtown and it finally arrived 60 years after WWII ended.
“Dump your couch for free day” is a bigger deal here than Memorial Day. Certainly more effort and more people take part in it. However, we did help out during the Viet Nam war, CSUC students led by Jane Dolan raised money to send to communists in Hanoi. Yes, that is our Jane Dolan running for county supervisor. Good job Jane.
Elsewhere in Chico, banks will be closed, but grocery and retail stores will be open for regular business hours. Government offices, including Chico city offices and the library will be closed Monday.