The author covers the towns of Bethlehem, Guilderland, New Scotland and surrounding areas for The Spotlight.
Growing up, most of us let out a cumulative groan as Memorial Day approached.
It wasn’t that my peers and I didn’t want to honor our veterans and not because we didn’t understand the day was important. It was more because of the hoopla that surrounded the town at the end of each May.
I grew up in Waterloo, a small town in western New York, and it holds a special place in American history. Most people don’t know our town is the birthplace of Memorial Day. It was eventually made official in 1966, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a federal proclamation.
Since few people knew about Waterloo’s one major claim to fame, a committee made up of local business and community leaders was formed in 1999 to make sure the holiday was more easily associated with the town. The committee came up with “Celebrate Commemorate,” an annual five-day event that occurs Thursday through Monday. An extra day is added if May 30 — the first collective observance date of Memorial Day — isn’t included in the weekend.
What followed was a giant fair with reenactments, guided historical tours and fireworks leading thousands to converge on the town each year. This was good for business, but not necessarily fun for some locals who missed having just a small, somber parade and observances held at local cemeteries.
As the event grew bigger, we children were pressured to write essays, perform in historical skits and work in booths to fundraise for local organizations. There was even a year when students spent an entire day creating and coloring American Flags, which were then placed in windows all over Waterloo in an attempt to land a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the village with the most American flags. We achieved our goal with 25,898 flags.
I was so sick of hearing of the holiday, I’m sad to say until last year I hadn’t even visited the National Memorial Day Museum that is located in the town. The same goes for my father, a lifelong resident of Waterloo for 54 years.
After I left for college I was glad to be away from the celebration, but I stopped to watch national coverage on television and read articles online. I became discouraged that first year, when nowhere was there a mention of Waterloo.
Sure, they mention how a form of Decoration Day unofficially began across the country as a way to honor those soldiers who died in the Civil War. They also mention Gen. John Logan, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic who first thought towns should observe their Memorial Day celebrations on the same day of May 30, 1868.
But no one hears of local druggist Henry Welles and Gen. John B. Murray, Waterloo residents who felt veterans who lost their lives in all wars should be honored. Those two men coordinated the first two official decoration and memorial events on May 5, 1866 and 1867 within the town.
Also, no one hears the local stories that made the two men feel a day of observance was needed.
Take the story of young Waterloo resident Wyman Johnson, who is said to have been out working in the fields of his family farm when the Civil War was declared. He took the scythe he was using to cut wheat and stuck it in a tree in front of his family’s home, telling his mother that’s where it would stay until he returned. Johnson never made it home and is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in the south. Rusted pieces of the scythe still remain in the 100 foot-tall tree.
In 1918, as World War I broke out, the Schaffer brothers, whose family then lived in the Johnson home, made the same vow, adding two more scythes to the tree. Both men made it home and now only Johnson’s scythe remains, along with an American flag.
National coverage always skirts past the mention of Waterloo. I would imagine it is because various other towns lay claim to the holiday, such as residents of Boalsburg, Pa. who say they held the first Decoration Day for Civil War soldiers in 1864. However, the sentiment behind Waterloo’s Memorial Day was that soldiers who gave their lives in any war should be honored.
This year I’m pleased to say the state is finally promoting its connection to the holiday. Thanks to the efforts of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office, a virtual Memorial Day exhibit has been created using archives from the New York State Library and National Memorial Day Museum in Waterloo
The site is filled with pictures and official documents, including the program from a Memorial and Decoration Day event held at Albany Rural Cemetery in 1883. To view the exhibit online, visit www.hallofgovernors.ny.gov.
Today, I’m proud to be from Waterloo, a community that felt it was important to honor all of its veterans. And I make it a point to return each year to take part in the festivities we’re semi-famous for.
