Lombard to rededicate veteran's memorial

Families will get the chance to "Meet the Lincolns" - that's the 16th President and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln - on Memorial Day in Lombard.

Lombard's 10th annual Memorial Day Ceremony begins at noon on Monday at the Veteran's Memorial Rock/Sunken Garden at Lombard Common.

The ceremony will include a rededication of the Veteran's Memorial. It features music by the Battlefield Balladeers and Glenbard East High School buglers and a remembrance of Civil War veterans by Craig Dorsey as Col. William Plum and Michael Krebs as Lincoln.

The "Meet the Lincolns" presentation in honor of the 200th anniversary of his birth - with Krebs and Debra Miller as Mary Todd Lincoln - starts right after the ceremony.

But the Lincolns also will be available earlier in the day for photos, starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Sheldon Peck Homestead, 355 E. Parkside.

Improvements to the Veteran's Memorial include a circular arrangement of flag poles, each representing a branch of the armed forces.

"This year is special thanks to Ben Pelz, Eagle Scout candidate, for planting the seed that has given us the rejuvenated Memorial," said Lombard police Lt. Scott Watkins, chairman of the Memorial Day observance.

Also being rededicated on Memorial Day is the historic Lombard Cemetery, Main Street and Washington Boulevard. Representatives from Lombard VFW Post 5815 and American Legion Post 391 will honor the soldiers buried in the cemetery. This ceremony begins at 11 a.m.

The cemetery restoration project included new fencing and landscaping, and the historic grave markers were repaired and leveled.