The Woman’s Relief Corps, and Sons and Daughters of Civil War Veterans extend an invitation for the community to join in the Annual Memorial Day Weekend Celebration 2014.

There will be a church service on Sunday, May 25, sponsored by the Woman’s Relief Corps, at First African Baptist Church where Rev. Alexander McBride is the pastor. The church is located at 601 New Street, Beaufort. The service begins at 3 p.m. and the speaker will be Rev. James Moore, Pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Dale.

Following this service, there will be a gathering at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park where flowers will be cast into the water in memory of those service persons  who died at sea.

There will also be the annual parade on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Rogers and Boundary streets in downtown Beaufort and will follow the traditional parade route. The Marine Corps Band will play and march, as will active duty personnel from area bases and local high school marching bands.

There will be a robust group of veterans associations represented in the parade including the Military Officers Association Lowcountry Chapter, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 12, American Legion Post 9, the 82nd Airborne Division Association, and the American Veterans Post 70 (AMVETS).

Disabled and senior veterans will have a seating area for the parade in the grassy area on Bay Street located on the waterfront side of the street between the Beaufort Marina and the Best Western Sea Island Inn.

After the parade, the celebration will continue with the Annual Memorial Day Ceremony at noon at the Beaufort National Cemetery, 1601 Boundary Street. The Keynote Speaker will be Brigadier General Kaffia “Belle” Jones, U.S. Army, who recently completed a 15 month deployment to Southwest Asia serving as Commander, 335th Signal Command (Theater). The Healing Heroes of the Lowcountry Fund will have a presence at the cemetery, as will the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8760 (VFW), the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).

Following the ceremony, there will be a reception hosted by the VFW Post 8760 located at their headquarters on 37 Castle Rock Road (take right turn at 1st Light past Walmart heading towards Broad River, then about a quarter mile down on the left) beginning at 2:15 p.m.

In the event of inclement weather, the parade and memorial celebration will be combined and held at the Beaufort High School Gym.

For more information, please call Dr. Elijah Washington at 843-525-6689.
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