LANCASTER – The Lancaster Cemetery District Board of Trustees has rescheduled the luminary display called “A Thousand Lights, One Spirit.”
The ceremony will now begin at 4 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 27) at the Lancaster Cemetery Veterans Court of Honor, with the luminaries being lit at 4:45 p.m. beginning at the west flagpole area.
“The luminary display that we have done in conjunction with Wreaths Across America has really caught the imagination of the community,” said Cemetery Trustee Chairman, Dave Owens. “I am so grateful that Lancaster City Councilman Ken Mann has volunteered to sponsor the display in honor of his father, Clifford Mann, who served in World War II as a Staff Sergeant for the Army Air Corps. I hope many Antelope Valley residents will come out to enjoy and participate in this beautiful display.”
The luminary display was originally set to take place on the same day as the Wreaths Across America Ceremony on Dec. 15, but it had to be canceled due to inclement weather.
Thursday’s ceremony and candle lighting is open to the public, weather permitting. The community may drive or walk through the cemetery until 8 p.m.
For further details, contact Dave Owens at 661-946-4224.
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palmdalian says
When will we going to stop celebrating the dead and start embracing the living?
Dave Owens says
While I think I understand your sentiment, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Lancaster Cemetery District, I do not believe that one must stop celebrating the dead to start embracing the living. The purpose of Wreaths Across America and the Luminary Display are to be tributes for those who served our Country through military service. Also receiving special recognition with special wreaths and luminaries are the Gold Star Mothers: mothers who lost a child in combat.
I would like to invite you to come to one of the events at the Cemetery. I can guarantee you that you will see a tremendous amount of embracing of the living. Old friends who haven’t seen each other in years are brought together to celebrate the deeds of their fellow servicemembers, and family members gather to celebrate the sacrifices of those who lived and died to give us a better life.
I truly believe that if you come to visit us on Memorial Day, and when you see the cemetery decorated with American flags on each servicemembers grave, and when you see the families and friends of those who have gone before honoring their memory, there is a sense of community and closeness that is, in every sense of the word, holy.
These celebrations are celebrations of the living, as well as learning the lessons that those who have gone before would have us know. Once again, please accept my invitation to visit. I hope to see you there. I believe that your views will change.
Zona morales says
would love to attend