“Several island patriotic organizations are planning ceremonies to celebrate Memorial Day on South Whidbey on Monday, May 29, honoring the deceased American veterans who have served their country. *A flag ceremony and dedication of a new flagpole will be held at the Langley Woodmen Cemetery beginning at 10 a.m., sponsored jointly by the American Legion Post 141, VFW, South Whidbey chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Langley Friends of the Cemetery, and Boy Scouts.The Naval Air Station Whidbey Color Guard rifle squad will participate, andSouth Whidbey High School student Jenny Westfall will play the Star Spangled Banner and Taps.Ashley Gabelein, selected by the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary as Poppy Girl for this year, will place wreaths at both the Langley and Bayview cemeteries. Donations for poppies go toward rehabilitation of needy veterans and their families and to hospitalized disabled veterans.The previous flagpole at the Langley Cemetery, donated by the D.A.R. and the American Legion in 1991, was destroyed in a windstorm this past winter. The new flagpole has been provided by the American Legion. *At daylight on Monday, members of Clinton’s Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Post 7482 (VFW) will raise the Bayview Cemetery’s U.S. flag on its flagpole and then lower it to half-staff until noon. The flag at half-staff became a tradition in 1866, when it was performed to honor those who had fallen in the Civil War. Today, VFW Post 7482 urges citizens to help in carrying out this tradition of displaying their flags on this day.At 10:45 a.m., VFW members will march into the cemetery to present their Memorial Day program, which will include printed materials on the meaning of Memorial Day and lists of the veterans (nearly 200) entered in the small and large cemeteries.*Clinton Cemetery will be the site of a Memorial Day program at 11 a.m., when Boy Scout Troop 57 and members of the D.A.R. will participate. The invocation and benediction will be given by Pastor Paul Benz of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, and Lt. Cmdr. John Ray Kniseley, II will deliver a memorial address, and Roy Simmons will read the names of the honored veterans. A potluck gathering will be held at the American Legion Post 141 on Highway 525 in Bayview following the Memorial Day ceremonies.For more information call Glenn Nichols at 226-5398 or the Langley Woodmen Cemetery Friends, 321-1152. “