Elgin to honor its fallen with Memorial Day ceremonies across the city
The Elgin Patriotic Memorial Association, in cooperation with the city of Elgin, invites the community to the Memorial Day ceremonies to be held on Monday, May 26.
The first ceremony begins at 8:30 a.m. at Mount Hope Cemetery, 1001 Villa St., featuring a combined color guard, rifle salute, and the playing of taps.
A service to honor those buried at Lakewood Memorial Park will be held at 9 a.m. at the cemetery’s Garden of Honor, 30W730 Route 20. It will include a combined color guard, rifle salute and the playing of taps.
The Elgin Navy Club and the Elgin Marine Corps League will conduct a program honoring veterans interred at sea at 9:40 a.m. at Elgin Veterans Memorial Park, 274 N. Grove Ave. It also will feature the Elgin Master Chorale. Following a presentation by Elgin Navy Club members, the ceremony will conclude with the strewing of flowers into the Fox River, rifle salute, and the playing of taps.
The ceremonies will conclude at 11 a.m. at Bluff City Cemetery, 945 Bluff City Blvd., Elgin. The program will pay tribute to the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War and all those who gave their lives, including Corporal Envierto Ortiz, a soldier classified as MIA for more than 50 years before being identified through DNA analysis. He was repatriated from Hawaii and interred in the Bluff City Veteran’s Section in the fall of 2024.
As attendees walk or ride up to the ceremony site, they will witness more than 600 flags honoring local veterans lining the streets as part of the award-winning “Avenue of Flags.”
Local students will continue the long-held tradition of reading Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and “General John Logan’s Orders,” which established Memorial Day. The most solemn moment of the morning will be the laying of organizational wreaths at the Grand Army of the Republic memorial — an observance akin to the laying of wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington, D.C.
This program also will feature the Larkin High School Band and the Elgin Master Chorale.
Activities will conclude with a roll call of deceased local veterans, a rifle salute, and the playing of taps.
Additional notes for the Bluff City Cemetery event:
Shuttle service: A free shuttle bus will pick up riders at the main gate and east gate before and after the service for transportation to and from the ceremony area.
Seating: Because of limited seating, attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair.
Hydration: Please bring a water bottle to stay hydrated.
Live broadcast: This 11 a.m. program also will be broadcast live on WRMN Radio 1410 AM.
Donations: Voluntary cash donations will be collected at the ceremony to fund the setting and installation of Korean War veteran Corporal Envierto Ortiz’s government-provided veteran headstone at Bluff City Cemetery. Any donations collected above and beyond those expenses will remain with the nonprofit Elgin Patriotic Memorial Association, the community organization responsible for the city’s Memorial Day observance.
Adopt-a-Cemetery: Visitors to Bluff City will also see more than 2,800 smaller flags flying over veterans’ graves placed by local volunteers as part of the “Adopt a Cemetery” program.
For more information on these events, visit elginmemorialday.org.