During a normal spring, Memorial Day is a big deal in Macon County.
In Franklin, there is a remembrance at the Veteran’s Park and a wreath-laying ceremony. Elected officials, veterans, and community leaders take a moment to address the crowd and reflect on what the holiday really means.
Here in Highlands, the Veteran’s Plaza in front of the Highlands Police Department is normally filled with appreciative citizens who stand to recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice defending the United States and all that the country stands for.
Children decked out in red, white and blue wave flags and the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America blare over the speakers as members of American Legion Post 370 do the honors of displaying the colors and reading the names of the veterans who are forever immortalized with engraved bricks along the walkway.
In 2020, Memorial Day is going to look much different, but hopefully feel the same.
There will be members of Post 370 at the Veteran’s Plaza, but the public is asked to view the service from the comfort of their home via the Post’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HighlandsNCAmericanLegionPost370) as a way to promote social distancing due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The Highlands Memorial Day event will be streamed live beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 25.
There will be 18 new names read aloud as the bricks dedicated to those veterans are added to the Walk of Honor. It’s important to show support not only for those brave men and women, but for their willingness to protect the freedoms that our society enjoys today.
Following the Memorial Day ceremony there will be time for traditional backyard barbecues, pool parties or games of catch – All the things that mark the holiday in a “normal year.”
COVID-19 has made 2020 anything but normal thus far, and the observance of Memorial Day in Macon County will be no exception. Watch the ceremony online and take a moment to reflect on the debt of gratitude we owe to all of the members of the Armed Forces who never made it home.