PHOTOS: Memorial Day in Lewiston

Veterans of Foreign Wars Downriver Post 7487 and the Lewiston Memorial Day Remembrance Committee teamed Monday for the annual Memorial Day parade, ceremony and luncheon.

The parade began at 11 a.m. and traversed Center Street, winding into Academy Park and the “Circle of Honor” veterans monument.

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A ceremony followed at noon, with the Hon. Michael Roemer again serving as master of ceremonies.

“As long as two comrades survive, we, the veterans of foreign wars of the United States, will render tribute to our fallen brothers and sisters,” he said.

“We are here today to celebrate and remember those who served and who are no longer with us. We do this so that we can pass on to future generations the memory of those who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedoms.”

Col. Jay E. "Cuda" Butterfield served as keynote speaker. Butterfield is commander of the 914th Operations Group, 914th Air Refueling Wing, Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

This group delivers worldwide aeromedical evacuation and air refueling operational expertise and combat effects in support of global evacuation and air refueling operational expertise and combat support toward global mobility requirements. The 914th consists of the 914th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 328th Air Refueling Squadron and 914th Operations Support Squadron, and stands ready to support global operations, including combat missions, humanitarian relief efforts and joint exercises, to ensure unmatched air mobility and operational impact.

Butterfield graduated from the ROTC program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He subsequently earned his pilot wings under the joint undergraduate pilot training program, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida; and Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He holds a Master's Degree in aerospace management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Butterfield is a command pilot with over 3,500 flight hours and over 27 years of active service.

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Following the ceremony, a free lunch was provided under the Academy Park pavilion, with food courtesy of the Brickyard Pub & B.B.Q., and dessert from Hibbard’s Original Frozen Custard.

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Veterans honored at Lewiston Cemetery

Village of Lewiston Historian Russ Piper hosted a ceremony Sunday at the Lewiston Cemetery below South Fifth Street. A new, all-granite monument was created to honor those local residents who served and died in battle from the Revolutionary through the Vietnam wars.

“In honor of our 250th anniversary, a lot of the markers here … are illegible; some are broken; some are tipped over; some are missing; so, I decided to complete the project by putting a monument with all of their names according to which war they served in,” Piper said.

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Participants at the event included Village of Lewiston Mayor Anne Welch; the Rev. Susan Cox Keppy, who officiated; an honor guard from Lewiston’s VFW Downriver Post 7487; veterans presenting a 21-gun rifle salute from the Newfane American Legion Post 873; Anton Schwarzmueller, representing Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Department of New York; and character actors Tim Henderson and Claudia Carnes.

Following this ceremony, Keppy offered a blessing for a new columbarium located on the site. Piper said the goal in adding this piece is to keep the cemetery active beyond its limited in-ground availability.

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