Tag Archives: Veteran’s Park

Kentwood’s Amvets Post to host annual Memorial Day Parade

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The City of Kentwood will mark Memorial Day with a parade on Monday, May 29, hosted this year by the Amvets Post 23.

 

For the past several years, the Amvets Post and the America Legion D.W. Cassard Post 208 have shared the responsibilities of hosting the annual parade and service with one group hosting it one year and the other hosting it the next. For 2017, it is the Amvets who have organized the event.

 

The parade will kick off at 10 a.m. from the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), near the corner of 48th Street and Eastern Avenue. From there, it will head west down 48th Street to Kentwood’s Veteran’s Memorial Park located in front of the Kentwood Activities Center, 355 48th St. SE. At the park, there will be a ceremony including the laying of five wreaths, one for each of the branches of the military service: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The service will last about an hour.

 

The entire parade and service will be rebroadcast on WKTV 25, at 12:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29. In fact, the entire program for that day will focus on Memorial Day activities and will include “Salute to Honor” at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.; a Memorial Day Tribute at 10 a.m.; “Lost Boat Ceremony” at the USS Silverside at 10:15 a.m. and 9 p.m.; City of Kentwood Memorial Day Parade at 12:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.; “Lest We Forget” at 1 p.m.; the Vietnam Moving Wall at 6:30 p.m.; and the City of Wyoming Memorial Day Service at 8:30 p.m.

 

The WKTV Government 26 channel will feature “Salute to Honor” at 6:30 p.m. and the National Veteran’s Creative Arts Festival at 7 p.m.

Final arch added to Wyoming’s Veteran’s Park

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The new memorial arch at Wyoming's Veteran's Memorial Garden.
The new memorial arch at Wyoming’s Veteran’s Memorial Garden.

The final memorial arch was installed this week at the City of Wyoming’s Veteran’s Memorial Garden.

 

The installation marked the end of a more than 10-year project for the Veteran’s Park. Started as a vision of local veterans groups, in 1995, through the support of the community, the city was able to complete the first phase of the project by dedicating the Walk of Honor to all military branches. Over the course of the past several years, the city has been adding elements to the park. This week, the city completed the project with the installation of the last of the three arches. The new arch will be recognized during the city’s annual Memorial Service set for the observed holiday, May 30 at 7 p.m.

 

Rebecca Rynbrandt, director of community services for the City of Wyoming, said the Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department received a $6,475 grant from the City of Wyoming Community Development Block Grant to fund the final memorial arch. This included the casting and placement in the Veteran’s Park, Rynbrandt said.

 

“We invite the community to visit the park located at 2300 DeHoop Avenue to view its three arches heralding Honor, Duty, and Country and reflect upon the service of our veterans,” she said. The Veteran’s Park is located right in front of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety and across from Pinery Park.

 

There are no current plans for any other additions to the park. Rynbrandt said. Memorial bricks for those who served are still available along the Walk of Honor. Bricks are placed in the spring for Memorial Day and in the fall for Veteran’s Day. Bricks are $40. For more information on purchasing a brick, click here or call the City of Wyoming offices at 616-530-7272.