Vistors look at the Moving Wall on May 18 in Florence’s Miller Park. The memorial to those killed during the Vietnam War was on display during the Rhododendron Festival. Florence was the only Oregon stop for the traveling memorial. World Photos by Jolene Guzman

Memorial Day weekend activities are scheduled throughout the South Coast, including remembrance ceremonies, parades and fleet blessings.

Reedsport/Winchester Bay

€ Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 3594 will host its annual Memorial Day formation honoring veterans at 10 a.m. on Monday at the Masonic Cemetery, 3021 Longwood Drive, in Reedsport.

€ The Reedsport/Winchester Bay Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a Memorial Day Parade and service to honor veterans on Monday. The theme for this year's parade is “Honoring Veterans, Past, Present and Future,” and the U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Marching Band from Twentynine Palms, Calif., will lead it.

The parade will start at noon on U.S. Highway 101 at 22nd Street in Reedsport and travel north to 10th Street, then east to Winchester Avenue, where it will cross the railroad tracks and then continue east to Hahn Memorial Park, the site of the first dedicated 9/11 memorial in the U.S., located in downtown Reedsport.

Many veterans, including World War II survivors from the Oregon Chapter of Landing Ship Tanks, will participate in the parade.

Following the parade, a memorial service honoring veterans will take place. The Green Beret Paratroopers from Fort Bragg, N.C., will start the service by jumping into the memorial site with a 65-foot-by-30-foot American flag. A fly-by, courtesy of Kingsley Air Force Base in Klamath Falls, also is scheduled. The Marine Corps Band will perform during the ceremony and a community barbecue will be held.

€ On Sunday, the U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Marching Band will perform at Pacific Auditorium.

€ The U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Marching Band also will perform at noon and 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Winchester Bay, followed by dinner at the Sportsmen's Cannery & Smokehouse.

Charleston

€ The annual blessing of the fleet and memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at the Charleston Fisherman's Memorial, near the launch ramp at the Charleston Marina.

The service will honor more than 125 local men and women associated with the commercial fishing industry who have died since 1941 and seven names will be added to the “In Memory” plaque: Roger “Dodger” Calewarts, Jake A. Harper, Jerry “Unkie” Kirkendall, Harvey Rayburn, Steven L. Richards, Sherm Sappington and Joe C. Taylor.

James Moore, a local commercial salmon troller, will provide opening and closing remarks. The Rev. Ross Wilbanks, of the Charleston Community Church, will deliver a memoriam and Roni Jackson and Kathleen Hornstuen will recite tributes. The U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Abraham Lincoln Division, will provide a color guard. The Charleston Community Church Choir will provide music accompanied by Evy Winer and Jordan Grant.

A U.S. Coast Guard motor lifeboat from Lifeboat Station Charleston also will load floral arrangements to place on the water.

David Ford, who is the president of the Charleston Community Enhancement Corporation, will re-dedicate the Charleston Fisherman's Memorial on behalf of the community. Following the service, the Charleston Fishwives will host a coffee and cake reception at the Charleston Marina RV Park recreation room, 63402 Kingfisher Road.

Coos Bay

€ The United Veterans Memorial Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. today at Fourth Street and Golden Avenue in Coos Bay. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. and judging will be held at 10 a.m. The parade will travel along Fourth Street to Commercial Avenue and down to Second Street, before heading back to Fourth and Golden.

€ A Memorial Day remembrance ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery, at 10th Street and Ingersoll Avenue in Coos Bay. Two unmarked graves of World War I veterans will receive headstones during the ceremony. For more information, those interested can visit cbcemetery@att.net or Marshfield High School.

€ A service will be held at Ocean View Memory Gardens to honor the sacrifice of veterans, at 10 a.m. on Memorial Day, Monday, at 1525 Ocean Blvd.; and at 11 a.m. at Sunset Memorial Park, 63060 Millington Frontage Road, in Coos Bay. The American Legion Bay Area Post No. 34 will officiate and the Bay Area AMVETS Post No. 10 will present the Avenue of Flags. A memorial service also will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Sunset Memorial Park Mausoleum. For more information, those interested can call Tom Boynton 267-3131 or Richard Billman 297-0749.

Bandon

€ The Port of Bandon's annual Blessing of the Fleet and Memorial Day ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Fisherman's Memorial in the boat-launching parking lot at the west end of the boardwalk. The Bandon Ministerial Association will officiate in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard and Coquille River Patrol. Following the service, clergy will board a U.S. Coast Guard vessel to take wreaths and flowers to the Bandon bar crossing. A gun salute on the South Jetty will be provided by the VFW Post No. 3440. For more information, those interested can call the port office at 347-3206.

Coquille

€ The American Legion No. 36, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and Auxiliary No. 965 will host the annual Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday in Coquille. The first ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Sturdivant Park, with the throwing of a commemorative wreath into the river to honor men and women lost at sea. Ceremonies will follow at the Veterans' Memorial with the lowering of the flags and placing of wreaths. Ceremonies continue at 10 a.m. at the Myrtle Crest Cemetery on Rink Creek Road. “Taps” will be played following the ceremonies.

€ At 10:30 a.m. on Monday, ceremonies will continue at the Masonic Cemetery and Pioneer Cemetery, located across the street from Coquille High School, with a final Memorial Day ceremony held at City Cemetery, on Sixth Street, next to Emmanuel Baptist Church.