151-Year-Old Boalsburg Memorial Day Celebration Concludes with Service

The crack of rifle fire echoed through Boalsburg Cemetery.

And then came the boom of the cannons, filling the air with billowing smoke.

The peals of the church bells followed, signifying the end of yet another Boalsburg Memorial Day Celebration.

The 151st rendition of the holiday, a tried and true tradition in the region, concluded as always with the service. A weekend of celebration ends with a walk from The Diamond to the cemetery. 

The service began with a tale of the holiday’s history, which originated in Boalsburg as the story goes. Dressed as a Civil War captain with the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, re-enactor Dave Felice told that story, quoting the writings of Sophie Keller. 

“On the fourth of July 1864, Emma Hunter and I went to the Boalsburg Cemetery to decorate her father’s grave,” Keller says. “While making a cross of flowers in a wreath of the same, the idea suggested itself to us that it would be appropriate considering the day to decorate all the graves of the soldiers buried here.”

Keller went on to say that the decorated graves of departed soldiers in Boalsburg Cemtery were the first in the country to be covered with flowers. Felice quotes a historian who supports that claim, unable to find documented proof that the practice happened earlier than that elsewhere. 

Five years later, the United States government passed an ordinance requiring the graves of soldiers to be decorated on May 30. The holiday, then called Decoration Day, has undergone a date and name change since then, but the idea remains the same: to recognize soldiers who died fighting for their country.

Mikayla Irvin, a sixth grader at Mount Nittany Middle School, understands the purpose of Memorial Day with a level of maturity far beyond her age. Irvin was the Boalsburg Village Conservancy’s essay contest winner, and she spoke to the crowd at Monday’s service.

“Memorial Day is more than a day when swimming pools open,” she says. “It is the day to remember soldiers who died for strangers. We cannot give back what has been taken from them, but we can give them one day of recognition for all that they have done.”

Irvin adds that the easy lives of American kids today is a direct result of the sacrifices made by our troops. Without them, she says, we would not lead happy lives.

“Has someone ever done you a favor you can never repay? We will never be able to repay the soldiers for keeping America free, but Memorial Day is something we can do to keep the soldiers who fought alive in our memory,” Irvin says. “They deserve our thanks, and that is why Memorial Day matters.”

That is why the graves of every solider in the Boalsburg Cemtery and cemeteries nationwide were marked with American flags and flowers. That’s why the town celebrated this weekend, with festivities including a carnival, a military re-enactment, and more held in honor of the soldiers who fought for this nation.

With 151 years of Memorial Day tradition in Boalsburg officially in the history books, take a look back at this weekend’s coverage:

MEMORIAL DAY 2015:

Memorial Day Festivities Bring Families to Boalsburg

Patty Kleban Column: Thanks for the Memories

Great Weather And Sun Hits Boalsburg For Memorial Day

Pine Hall Cemetery Service Memorializes Departed Servicemen

World War II Re-enactors Honor Sacrifices of Soldiers Past

Memorial Day Parade a Family Tradition in Boalsburg

Carnival Features Rides, Fried Food, and Bingo to Support Boalsburg Fire Company

Boalsburg Cemetery Still Recovering from Gravestone Vandalism, Repair Work Continues