The Philadelphia Protestant Home on Monday held its annual Memorial Day ceremony.
Boy Scouts Troop 160 got things underway by marching through the parking lot, where 80 or so people were gathered for the outdoor event.
Emcee Bill Conaway, PPH’s director of community relations, called for a moment of silence for the victims of the recent Texas school shooting. State Rep. Jared Solomon, who will soon be redistricted out of the area where PPH is located, asked the crowd to sometime in the near future look at the pictures of the 19 young students killed, to think and pray for their families and to pray for a more peaceful world.
Conaway spoke of a trip some PPH staff and residents took last Thursday to Washington Crossing National Cemetery for an “unattended service,” which pays respect to those who had no one witness their interment.
PPH security guard Jorge Rodriguez, a veteran, raised the American flag with the help of Troop 160 members Zachary Davis and Martin Stacey. Troop 160 later walked to other Memorial Day ceremonies at the Burholme Memorial for Peace at Jardel Recreation Center and the World War I monument at Five Points.
PPH residents played a big role in the ceremony. Carol Feeley read the war poem In Flanders Fields. Carol Cherrington placed a wreath. Audrey Alston sang Blades of Grass and Pure White Stones and led the crowd in a rendition of the national anthem. Ed Feeley assisted Conaway in explaining the significance of the POW/MIA remembrance table set for one.
Pastor Ken Smith offered an invocation and benediction.
“We can never be thankful enough,” he said. ••
