POTTSTOWN — The Pottstown area’s honored war dead were remembered and memorialized Monday with a parade and solemn service on Veterans Island.
The parade kicked off at 10 a.m. in front of the Goodwill firehouse in the 700 block of High Street.
With marching bands, classic cars, Jeeps, motorcycles, flags, Cub Scouts, civic clubs and more firetrucks than it was easy to count, the parade made its way all the way west to Manatawny Street where, a quick right put it on track to Veterans Island, the memorial-laden island in Pottstown’s Memorial Park.
Standing along High Street near the parade’s start, Reese Hemming, 10, wore heart-shaped sunglasses as she waited for her friend Phoebe Moyer, also 10. Phoebe, Reese explained, would be riding in a Goodwill Fire Truck.
“Don’t forget to shout her name, it will be loud,” Reese was advised.
It wasn’t long before Phoebe’s hand could be seen waving madly out of the truck while Reese waved back just as madly.
After having her picture taken for the newspaper, she gave a portly reporter a big hug, which made his day.
Nearby, the Miller family, nine of them, were calling out to friends and acquaintances, joking, laughing and at least one of them, amusing himself by sticking American flags in his hair.
Soon enough, marching bands from both Pottstown and Pottsgrove middle schools, the latter led by a patriotic suit-wearing Ben Hayes, played their tunes while the color guard spun their flags in time.
The roar of a motorcycle crew and a line of American muscle cars arrived as the sound of the bands faded, making their way one marching step at a time down the street.
At Memorial Park, the weeks of rain had done their work, and the grass was thick and green, and in need of a trim.
Doug Berhrle of Charlestown Township in Chester County had parked his vintage 1940 military vehicle, complete with mounted machine gun in the back seat, for easy viewing, under a tree near the bridge by which many of the parade goers would enter.
He was happy to explain the vehicle’s provenance. It was once used by the Valley Forge Military Academy, and in 1952, when the school decided to upgrade its equipment, it was purchased by the VFW Post in Paoli.
But when that post closed, Berhle bought it and now he brings it to parades as a public service. He insisted it is not difficult to maintain and said it was refurbished in 1995.
Across the island, by the World War II Memorial, Bill Hamilton parked his sea-foam-colored classic car draped with a banner from St. Gabriel’s Lodge in Stowe, which is celebrating its 97th anniversary this year and which had also been in the parade. Hamilton and his son, also named Bill, brought along the always festively dressed John Mars, beauty queen JoAnne Bechtel and Dr. Garland Fisher, who was decked out in fatigues.
“Can you believe it? We’ve been here 97 years,” said the senior Hamilton, who is also the lodge’s acting president.
As has been the tradition for several years, the services were organized by the Joint Veterans Council of Pottstown, headed up by Pamela Kubczak, who introduced the program, presented it from the gazebo between the Vietnam War memorial and the recently refurbished Korean War memorial.
Christopher Swenda, a former combat medic, served as the Officer of the Day and introduced Hailey Harner and Kelsey Renner, who sang a highly harmonized rendition of the Star Spangled Banner that was much appreciated by the crowd. “That was amazing,” said one woman.
The Rev. William Ball, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church, led the invocation, which included the prayer, “may we live lives worthy of their sacrifice.”
Pottstown Mayor Stephanie Henrick said Memorial Day is a day to remember “one million ordinary Americans who did extraordinary things, who sacrificed their lives, their hopes to protect our country, and our human dignity, from fascists and dictators.”
In the last year, 84 veterans from the greater Pottstown area, who had survived those conflicts, passed away.
As is the tradition, members of the Mahanatawny Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution read all 84 of those names as the single tolling of a bell marked each passing.
“Say their names,” said Svenda, “so they can continue to live in us.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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