- November 28, 2024
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The Rotary Club of Windermere hosted a memorial ceremony to honor those who have served the country Monday, May 30.
The quaint ceremony welcomed a good number of people, as they all enjoyed the shade the trees offered while they listened to the ceremony.
Windermere Mayor Jim O’Brien addressed the audience in attendance.
“I have the privilege of welcoming you to the town of Windermere,” he said. “Thank you for joining us today as we remember, and reflect, upon the service and sacrifice of those soldiers who have laid down their lives so we may have the freedoms that are the cornerstone to our great nation.”
Lori Moran first sang “Let There Be Peace On Earth,” then performed the National Anthem as the West Orange High School ROTC presented the colors, and closed the ceremony with a representation of ‘God Bless America.’
Keynote speaker, retired special forces Calvin Wimbish, addressed the audience as well. He recited a soldiers prayer he heard along his years of service.
“Our Father, Who art in heaven, today we honor the men and women who have died in the service of our country,” he read. “We pause to reflect the lives sacrificed while protecting our freedom. We confess most days we are oblivious to the price paid by men and women in uniform, and yet we live everyday in the freedom they laid down their lives to give us.
“So today Lord, we will call the words of Jesus when he said ‘greater love has no man than this who laid down one’s life for one’s friends.' Let us not forget that each life lost represents another life that's left to pick up the pieces. We live up with widows and widowers, brothers and sisters, parents and children, of the service men and women who fought valiantly for our country to be free.”