“Let us all strive to remember the men and women of our military who sacrificed their lives so our country could grow and prosper. These are the true heroes of America.”

Jeralyn Walters Schoch, the mayor of Slatington, offered these thoughts at the 102nd consecutive Memorial Day Service at the Fairview Cemetery in Slatington on Monday.

Ron Humanick, commander of the Allen O. Delke Post 16 of the American Legion, Slatington, opened the service at the Fairview Cemetery which culminated a day of Memorial Day remembrances offered at the Catholic Cemetery on Washington Street, the Slatedale Cemetery, a program at the Trout Creek Covered Bridge, followed by a parade from the American Legion to the Fairview Cemetery.

“Truly, it is a day of remembrance,” Humanick said, “and to memorialize all those who gave their lives while serving in the military and preserving our freedom.”

Humanick introduced the special guest, retired U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Daryl Crawford, who currently teaches world history at Parkland High School. He spoke of how Pennsylvania can lay claim to helping start the commemoration of Memorial Day.

Crawford shared how the town of Boalsburg, in Centre County, claims to be the site of the earliest observation of Decoration Day. Waterloo, New York, was named by the presidential decree that made Memorial Day a national holiday in 1966. But Boalsburg shares in the history of this day.

With many of the men from Boalsburg serving in the American Civil War, the women of Boalsburg took action as well. They organized daily meetings at the Boalsburg Academy. They prepared packages, sewed uniforms and arranged for the Boalsburg Brass Band to play as fundraisers to help take care of wounded soldiers.

Soldiers from Boalsburg suffered casualties throughout the war. But the death of Dr. Reuben Hunter on Sept. 19, 1864, inspired three women to go to the cemetery and decorate the graves of recently fallen soldiers. They were Emma Hunter, Dr. Hunter’s daughter; Elizabeth Meyer, who lost her son Amos the year before at Gettysburg; and Sophie Keller, a citizen of Boalsburg.

While decorating the graves of those who died in the Civil War, they also decided to decorate the graves of those who served in the War of 1812 and the American Revolution.

“The three women took action in 1864. What can we do? They created a movement by their example. What sort of example can we set today to continue to be worthy of the sacrifices made by so many in order to make today possible?”

“The women served,” Crawford explained, “not because they were asked to, but because they saw a need, and they acted on it.”

“(Memorial Day) needs to be more than picnics and Memorial Day sales. It needs to be a day that inspires action. I hope tomorrow sees us taking actual steps, real actions, even in the smallest of ways, to assist those around us.

The American Legion Honor Guard offered the Salute to the Dead with the rifle fire and the playing of taps.

Dennis Ziegler, president of the Memorial Day Program Committee, served as Master of Ceremonies for the service. Halle Kluever, Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Slatington, offered the invocation, prayer and benediction. Mayor Jeralyn Walters Schoch spoke, and the Northern Lehigh High School Band, under the direction of David Carroll, offered several patriotic songs during the program.