Memorial Day’s Great Significance: Voice Of The Township
The Wayne Township Trustee Office will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2025, in honor of Memorial Day, and many of us are looking forward to attending the Memorial Day Parade that departs from the Waynedale United Methodist Church at 9:00 that morning, traveling its traditional route along Old Trail Road to the Prairie Grove Cemetery where ‘Taps’ will be played along with rifle volleys and the laying of the memorial wreath. Trustee Austin Knox plans to walk in the parade as he has done each year since taking office. It is always an honor to come together with Waynedale citizens to commemorate our community’s fallen military members.
In the United States, Memorial Day originated just after the Civil War when residents of both the North and the South created their own traditions of honoring the fallen soldiers of the war. Most of those traditions involved placing flags and flowers and other memorabilia on the graves of soldiers, and from that it became known as “Decoration Day.” The name Memorial Day did not come into general use until after World War II, as it honored the memory of the men and women who died while serving in all the American military conflicts, not just the Civil War.
Each year on Memorial Day people visit cemeteries and monuments as they honor those who have died in military service. For some people, the day is a time for remembering other deceased friends and relatives as well, and since the holiday is part of a three-day weekend these visits are often an opportunity to come together for traditional family reunions.
Now observed on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of the summer season in the United States with Labor Day, on the first Monday of September, marking the unofficial start of autumn. Veterans Day, in November, which honors not just those who have died in active service but all veterans living and deceased, brings to a close the yearly cycle of paying respect to our soldiers.
Before the month gets away from us, we would like to congratulate Shalonda Saunders who has been our Employee of the Month for May. Shalonda works at the front desk where she greets the public with efficiency and friendliness. She was on the first ARMMS committee, organizing morale and team building activities for our staff. Shalonda has many talents that she puts to work both on the job and in her off-hours. She sews her own clothes, serves as an Allen County Master Gardener and she mentors a group of girls with whom she shares those talents and the learning and experience that has come with practicing her activities. At a recent ARMMS activity she supplied Wayne Township staff members with young garden plants that she and “her girls” started from seeds.
Thank you, Shalonda, for sharing your talent and enthusiasm with us and with the Wayne Township community.
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