Memorial Day

When I was growing up in Indiana, I liked to spend Memorial Day — we called it Decoration Day then — at my uncle’s house in Decatur because the parade was better there. I was especially taken by the lone Civil War survivor — I was told he had joined the Union Army very young as a drummer boy — who always walked at the front of the parade. He was grizzled and lame and spoke mostly in monosyllables, but I liked to imagine him on a battlefield and wondered what he could tell me if he would.

Free Concert! Join the All American Boys Chorus on Monday, May 26, 2008 as our we help honor and commemorate the memory of those who have given their lives in the service of the United States of America.    Our full Concert Chorus will be on hand at . . .   Harbor Lawn - Mt. Olive Memorial Park 1625 Gisler Avenue, Costa Mesa Phone (714) 540-5554   The Memorial Day Service will begin at 11 am    The boys will sing the USA National Anthem, followed by an invocation, welcome from the Mayor of Costa Mesa and comments by guest speaker Capt.

As a young Marine who fought in Guadalcanal under the legendary Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, retired Master Sgt. Francis “Ace” Arciaga, found brotherhood that lasted a lifetime. “Marines past and present are like friends,” Arciaga said. “I’ve always felt that they were my extended family.” Arciaga was one of several generations of Marines on hand for the Newport Beach 1st Battalion, 1st Marines Adoption Committee-sponsored Mess Night at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort on Thursday evening.

Memorial Day will mark the opening of Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale’s South Coast Plaza. The restaurant, featuring a main dining room on the ground floor of Bloomingdale’s, along with a bar-lounge and private dining room, will serve Palmer’s signature “New American” cuisine. Palmer’s menu features entrées such as “crisp black sea bass” and red wine-poached beef tenderloin, accessorized by dishes including truffle potato gnocchi, or coriander-scented basmati rice.

A Marine takes a step, stops, looks over his shoulder and is immortalized in a moment in time in a bronze sculpture. Artist Benjamin Victor was selected to design the Newport Beach memorial to the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. His maquette , or small-scale model, was unveiled Friday at City Hall. The sculpture of a young Marine is set against a polished black-granite backdrop, providing what Victor described as a mirror effect, where the Marine’s face in profile can be seen in reflection.

Six artists, including two from Newport Beach, have submitted designs for a military memorial to be built in Newport Beach. Entries also came from Long Beach; Aberdeen, S.D.; Bogota, Colombia; and Wroclaw, Poland, said Newport Beach Cultural Arts Coordinator Jana Barbier. The memorial will honor the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines — a Camp Pendleton-based unit the city adopted in 2003 — and members of the military who have died in combat. The city arts commission and parks commission will review the designs next, and officials hope to have the sculpture built by Memorial Day 2008.

When you think of Memorial Day, you may think about watching NASCAR, major league baseball, attending a parade, biking, boating, gardening, or simply taking it easy over a three-day weekend. It's curious how we define our holidays by the type of enjoyment that fills our time. But Memorial Day is intended to provide a time for us to demonstrate our appreciation for the brave men and women who lost their lives so that we may be free. Make no mistake about it, this day is dedicated to America's fallen heroes.

Though Walker "Bud" Mahurin will commemorate Memorial Day in Washington, D.C., leading the Korean War contingent of the National Memorial Day Parade, he recognizes the somber holiday is not really about parades or barbecues or sales. During his 15 years of active duty as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, Mahurin, a Newport Island resident, witnessed the passing of countless soldiers, and after bailing out three times and crashing once, the retired colonel barely escaped a similar fate.

As Memorial Day weekend once again ushered in the summer crowds, Balboa Peninsula residents prepared for increased traffic and parking problems. Sunday, the three-mile trek along Newport Boulevard from where the 55 freeway ends in Costa Mesa, to the Newport Pier, turned into a 30-minute commute as beach-going vehicles battled one another for a spot on the strip. Sheryl Alves and Brian Pocock moved to the peninsula just over two years ago. They learned quickly that if you want to get around on the peninsula, a beach cruiser is the only sensible way to roll.