By KEN CARPENTER
Great bend Post
The annual Memorial Day ceremony will be held at the Great Bend cemetery again this year. It was canceled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year's observance will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 31. Boe Livingston, First Vice-Commander of American Legion Post 180, said the event will begin with a motorcycle parade.
"The Legion Riders come in on motorcycles," Livingston said. "They do a flag line that circles the Veterans Square."
Memorials will be presented by a number of veterans organizations, and a memorial address will be delivered by a local member of the American Legion. Former Great Bend High School band director Marc Webster will play taps.
Following the commemoration, a ceremony to honor naval veterans will be held at the Arkansas River bridge on US 281 south of Great Bend. That will be followed by a final tribute at the Veterans Memorial Park north of town.
Livingston said the American Legion will be placing small stick flags on veterans' graves at the Great Bend cemetery beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 26. He estimated that 1,200 to 1,400 flags will be used to honor the city's veterans.
Anyone wishing to help place the flags should arrive at the Great Bend cemetery around 7 p.m. Livingston says volunteers will be appreciated.