Communities across the county are hosting Memorial Day parades and services to honor fallen military service members.

Events are taking place on Memorial Day in Butler, Harrisville, Saxonburg and Chicora. In Prospect, a Memorial Day and Community Day event is scheduled for May 29, and in Rimersburg, events are set for both May 29 and May 30.

The county Veterans Services department is conducting a service at 9 a.m. Memorial Day outside of Butler VA Health Care in Butler Township, and a parade and service in Butler.

The parade on Main Street in downtown Butler begins at 10:11 a.m. The service begins at 11 a.m. in Diamond Park.

LeRoy Bunyan, of American Legion Post 778 in Lyndora and Butler County's 2020 Veteran of the Year, will serve as master of ceremonies and be one of several speakers.

“My message will be how Memorial Day actually started and where it started at,” Bunyan said. “It's Memorial Day. You honor those who died.”

The service will include a demonstration of flag folding by legion and Veteran of Foreign Wars post honor guard members and an explanation of the meaning of each of the 13 steps in the flag-folding procedure.

“Many people have no idea why and how a flag is folded. I'll narrate and they'll fold in each step,” Bunyan said.

American Legion Riders will place wreaths at both services. Bantam Marine Corps Detachment #743 will present the colors, provide a 21-gun salute and perform taps.

The Marines will lead the parade with the colors. The Legion Riders and a Pennsylvania brigade Revolutionary War re-enactment group will also take part in the parade from Pearl to Wayne streets.

Bunyan said organizations wishing to join the parade should contact Veterans Services at 724-284-5353.

Vietnam veterans will receive special recognition during Harrisville's services, and the parade will begin with a World War II training aircraft fly-over, said Todd Rockburn, commander of American Legion Post 852 in Harrisville.

“We're going to honor the Vietnam veterans,” Rockburn said.

Veterans of the war in Vietnam will be presented with pins recognizing their service, Rockburn said.

He said the legion is working with Slippery Rock Elementary School to have students from the Harrisville area serve as speakers for the service, which begins at noon at the legion.

The parade begins at 1 p.m. with a fly-over by a WWII training air plane.

Veterans will lead the parade from the intersection of routes 58 and 8, down Route 58 to Cemetery Road.

Behind the veterans will be a procession of Girl Scouts, cheerleaders from the Moniteau School District, a rodeo team from North Washington, military vehicles, tractors, fire departments, a race car, the Revelation Riders Chapter #607 and the Legion Riders.

In Saxonburg, the American Legion post is planning the annual Memorial Day parade on Main Street at 10:30 a.m. Activities will be held in Roebling Park at noon.

Chicora's Memorial Day parade begins at 10 a.m. on Main Street and ends at the American Legion post, where a service will be held. A Vietnam veteran from Chicora will be honored during the service.

In Prospect, the parade on May 29 begins at 11 a.m. on Main Street and ends at Moraine Elementary School, where activities include a firefighters' Battle of the Barrel.

Community Day will take place around the same time as the parade and feature activities and vendors on Main Street.

In Rimersburg, the Shearer-Shick Post 454 of the American Legion and the Veterans of the Veterans of the Foreign Wars Post 1732 will host commemorative Memorial Day services May 30 and 31.

The Memorial Sunday service will be held at 3 p.m. at Rimersburg Veterans Memorial Park. The event will feature Bob Carmichael as the master of ceremonies and Rev. John Bargar of the Rimersburg United Methodist Church as the guest speaker.

On Monday, the annual parade will begin at 9 a.m. starting at the former Rimersburg Elementary School. The program will follow at the cemetery. Terry George will serve as the master of ceremonies, and Rev. Mark Deeter of Wildcat Wesleyan Methodist Church will offer the invocation, prayer and benediction.

Monday's guest speaker will be Burton Kephart from Cranberry, whose son, Spc. Jonathan R. Kephart, was killed in Iraq in 2004.