American Legion Post 360 will be sponsoring Memorial Day ceremonies and a parade on Monday, May 25.

Ceremonies will start at the Spring Street Monument at 8 a.m. with the invocation and benediction by Pastor David Clark of Trinity Baptist Church and the laying of the Wreath by Unit 360 President Georgeann Herling, Miss Poppy Aurelia Rambaran and Poppy Princess Lydia Zink.

Salute to the dead will be by the Post 360 honor guard, and taps performed by the Weatherly Area High School Band. The ceremony at the monument will be held rain or shine.

The parade will form at Tweedle Park at 8:30 a.m. All groups or individuals participating should be at the park by 8:30 a.m.

The parade starts at 9 a.m. and proceeds to Our Lady of Lourdes Church for ceremonies, where Shane Moran, master of ceremonies, will give the welcome, and Daniel Miscavage of Knights of Columbus, Council 12105, will give the invocation and benediction. The honor guard will again give the salute to the dead and the band will play taps.

The parade will then proceed to Union Cemetery, where the main ceremonies will take place.

Moran will open the ceremony, and Clark will give the invocation before distinguished guests are recognized, including American Legion Post Commander Harry Shellhamer, Herling, Rambaran, Zink, and retired Army Lt. Col. Mark J. Blasko, main speaker.

The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Judy Desrosiers, Unit 360 Americanism chair, and Angela Nardini will sing the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” John Simcovich will perform “Soldier Boy.”

WAHS senior Raymond Montz will recite the “Gettysburg Address,” and Grace Potel, another WASD student speaker, will recite “In Flanders Fields.”

Herling will recite “Freedom is Not Free,” and Desrosiers will recite “Poppies to Remember,” followed by the main speaker, Blasko.

A Freeland native, Blasko enlisted in the Army Reserves in May 1988 and earned his commission from the Bloomsburg University Army ROTC Program in 1991 as an infantry officer and branched transferred to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 1998.

Blasko’s assignments include platoon leader. e Co. 314th Infantry Bn (Mech), Lock Haven; trial counsel. 1:24th Infantry Brigade, Fort Lewis. Washington; environmental law specialist, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York; command judge advocate, Tobyhanna Army Depot; chief of legal assistance, 1215th Garrison Support Unit. Willow Grove; brigade judge advocate, 304th Civilians Affairs Brigade, Philadelphia; and chief of international law, 353rd Civil Affairs Command, Fort Wadsworth, New York.

He was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn, as a Judge Advocate with Headquarters. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, Kabul.

His awards include Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, Army Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M device, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal with silver oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal with star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award with bronze oak leaf, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with star, NATIONAL Medal, Army Service Medal Ribbon, Army Reserves Overseas Training Ribbon, Parachute Badge, German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge Gold.

Blasko and his wife, Susan, reside in White Haven and they have two sons, Elliot and Hunter. He is employed at Tobyhanna Army Depot as a program manager.

Following Blasko’s remarks, the honor guard will give the salute to the dead and the band perform taps, followed by benediction by Clarke.