The Meaning of Memorial Day will be featured in a special salute Monday, May 30, at the 84th Annual Memorial Day Observance at Loma Vista Memorial Park, 701 E. East Bastanchury Rd, Fullerton.

Attendees at the last in-person Memorial Day event in 2019. Photo by Jesse La Tour.

The program is sponsored by the nonprofit American Veterans Memorial Association, the city of Fullerton, and Loma Vista Memorial Park. It will begin at 10am and is free to the public.

Members of the public, and all veterans and their families, are invited to attend. Parking is even more limited than in prior years because the area to the left as you enter Loma Vista has been developed.  With limited parking, guests are encouraged to carpool and arrive early. Guests may also use the City Park on the south side of Bastanchury Rd as an alternative parking location.

Special guest speaker will be Brigadier General David A. Smith, California State Guard and Air Force Veteran. He will be escorted to the podium by JROTC cadets from Fullerton and Troy High Schools.

Volunteers are need for a couple of hours on Friday, May 27, from 7 to 9am to transport flags, crosses, and support equipment from storage, and on Saturday, May 28, from 8 to 10am to decorate veterans’ graves with a cross and flag. Volunteers are also needed on Tuesday, May 31, from 7 to 9am to pick up all the flags and crosses and from 8 to 11pm at the Fullerton Community Center to iron the flags.  No experience necessary. No children except for Saturday.

The oldest continuous Memorial Day ceremony in Orange County, Fullerton’s program began in 1939 when C. Stanley Chapman, a WWI veteran and son of the City’s first mayor, began the tradition of placing a small white cross and an American flag at the graves of about 50 veterans at Loma Vista. This year, community volunteers will place a cross or Star of David, and a flag on more than 4,300 veterans’ graves located among the 33,000 total graves throughout the cemetery.

Ed Paul, coordinator of the American Veterans Memorial Association, will serve as master of ceremonies.  Patriotic music will be sung by Dave Deno and Kristen Romero.  Officers from the Fullerton Police Department will provide escort support, raise the colors, and present the gun salute. Taps and Echo will be played by Steve Plett and Ana Plett.  Prior to the ceremony, individual photos of Army veterans will be taken by Dave and Sage Ryan of Motographics, Inc., and special commemorative pins will be given to the veterans in attendance, thanks to a contribution by Rotary Club of Fullerton.

Participating in the observance will be the Fullerton Firefighters’ Association, the Fullerton Police Color Guard and Gun Salute Team, Fullerton American Legion Post 142, and the Post’s Commanders Club, Fullerton Emblem Club 469, Rotary Club of Fullerton, JROTC cadets from Fullerton and Troy High Schools, Boy Scout Troops 97 and 1201, and Cub Scout Pack 1218.

Further information about the Memorial Day observance may be obtained by calling (714) 871-2412 or visiting the AVMA website at www.avmafullerton.org.

Persons requiring any special accommodations to attend the ceremony are asked to call Loma Vista Memorial Park at (714) 525-1575 prior to May 28.