Lanesborough Marks Memorial Day, Honored for 250 Years
 After 18 years as commander of the American Legion Post 446, George Himmel is giving the position up to move to Albany, N.Y. See more photos here. |
After nearly two decades at the head of the organization, Himmel is passing the baton to Marlene Clemons.
Himmel has been a member of Post 446 for 37 years, and emceed the annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony as commander.
"After 18 years it is time for me to step down," Himmel told a crowd of nearly 100 at the end of Sunday's ceremony. "We will miss you all. ... Lanesborough is a special place."
Himmel said he will be moving to Albany, N.Y., with his wife at the end of June, after the state American Legion convention. Himmel has been commuting from town to Albany for work for some years. He originally came to town in the 1980s and served 27 years as an Army officer.
Himmel introduced Clemons at the annual parade and ceremony, which starts at the Old Forge Restaurant and ends at the town cemetery. Keynote speaker state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, recognized the town's 250th anniversary with a state citation he read to the crowd.
"Observing Memorial Day one day of the year should not be the extent of our remembrance but, instead, the start," Downing said in his remarks, in which he called on residents to give something back to preserve the freedom that others defended on the battlefield. "We have a responsibility to preserve that freedom and expand it."
"Words can never capture the debt we owe" to those who gave their lives to protect the country, he said. Downing read the names of five people in his Senate district who had died in military service during tenure, asking residents to honor them for their sacrifice.
He further recognized the town's 250th anniversary. Lanesborough is one of four Berkshire towns incorporated in 1765.
"All of you are the reasons these communities are special places to live," Downing said to the crowd.
The ceremony also featured Hayden Brundige laying a wreath, the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars Color Guard, welcoming remarks from Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers, the Dalton American Legion Post 155 rifle salute, taps and the national anthem played by the Mount Greylock Regional High School band, bagpipes played by Nancy Tunnicliffe, and the prayer and benediction from the Rev. Noreen Suriner.
The parade is put on by the town each year through the efforts of the parade committee. A reception followed at Town Hall followed.
Tags: bicenquinquagenary, citation, Memorial Day, parade, veterans,
