The lady in the blue shirt shared her story and history she has with the two Hollands; the European Country also known as the Netherlands which is her country of origin, and the town she calls home.
She expressed her gratitude to the brave men who liberated her country of origin during WWII.
Eddie Voloka served most of his life on a submarine. After his retirement he was living for many years on Old County Road here in Holland and moved to Sturbridge in 2006.
After the ceremony, the parade moved from the Monument to the Holland cemetery. Officer Forcier’s police SUV was in front of the parade followed by the two Fire Engines of the Holland Fire Department.
Veteran Louis Majka’s grandson playing the trumpet at the cemetary.
After the ceremony, hot coffee and snacks were waiting for the crowd at the Senior Center right next to the cemetery.
While children and adults colored greeting cards for our men in active duty with crayons, others just got to know each other or rekindled old friendships.
I had the honor to be introduced to Louis Majka, the WWII veteran who took on to raise the flag earlier.
He moved to live with his daughter and her family eight years ago after his wife passed away.
He had a lot of interesting stories to tell.
Wars somehow, if you survive them, put everything into prospective. Louis chose the life of a professional musician after WWII and I got the impression that he had an interesting life. No wonder that his grandson is playing the trumpet and was the one who treated the crowed to a performance at the cemetery earlier.
There was not enough time as usually when it gets interesting. I hope Dawn and Valerie keep it up and treat the community with another well organized Memorial Day celebration next year.
May 31, 2010, Peter Frei