The Madison Memorial Meander is a relatively new tradition with the Ride and, prior to this year, an unofficial ride. BUT…thanks to the mercurial moods of Mother Nature; this year’s event is a real deal CR…a long one; but a beautiful one.

One of the traditions of the Meander is to stop at the Veterans Memorial Park at the bottom of Route 315 just outside of Deansboro to remember the veterans we’ve lost in service to our country.

As we stop there tomorrow I invite anyone who wishes to remember someone near and dear to them to mention their name and branch of service, date of death and a short personal message f you wish. I always remember my Cousin Rick this way: “Today I remember my cousins Lance Corporal Richard D. Sullivan Jr., Lima Company, 3 – 5 Marines. 1st Marine Division. Date of death July 31, 1968; Quang Nam province South Vietnam.”

Something like that…

We began this tradition after I came upon a proclamation of President Kennedy’s; designating Memorial Day 1961 as a day of remembrance and prayer.

The park is a beautiful and quiet place on the banks of the Oriskany Creek. It’s a spot that will salve your wounds over your lost loved ones and will leave you at peace…

See you in the morning.

“…Whereas Memorial Day each year provides a fitting occasion upon which our people may not only commemorate the Nation’s heroic dead but also unite in prayer for the preservation of liberty and peace free from the threat of war; and

Whereas to this end the Congress, in a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950 (64 Stat. 158), requested the President to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace:

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, do hereby urge the people of the United States to observe Tuesday, May 30, 1961, Memorial Day, by invoking the blessing of God on those who have died in defense of our country, and by praying for a new world of law where peace and justice shall prevail and a life of opportunity shall be assured for all; and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at eleven o’clock in the morning of that day as the time to unite in such prayer….”

From Proclamation 3409
May, 1961

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