Johnston City Memorial Day ceremony draws hundreds
Bost delivers keynote address
BY HOLLY KEE
hkee@localsouthernnews.com
Larry Milligan was just one of more than 300 area residents turned out on Johnston City's main street Monday morning for the city's annual Memorial Day observance.
"This is my 50th one of these," said Milligan, a Vietnam veteran. "I got out in 1968 and I've been to every single one since then."
The hourlong program featured musical selections from several area residents including Jane Kelton, Kathy Canady Seymour, Hunter Beasley, and the Johnston City High School concert band, a military ceremony and 21-gun salute by the Marion VFW Ritual Team, and the traditional laying of the wreaths and reading of names for those residents killed in action.
Johnston City High School graduate Victoria Mueller gave the welcome.
"As many of you know, I was planning to go to the Navy, but God had a different plan for me," she said.
Tara Kay Tanner, the 2018 Miss John A. Logan Outstanding Teen, introduced keynote speaker, U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro).
Bost said he was honored to be a part of the ceremony.
"I represent an area that has one of the largest veterans populations in the U.S.," he said, noting that Memorial Day also includes honoring fallen police and firefighters. "To come out and see this many people gathered here, this is what hometown is all about."
Johnston City Mayor Jim Mitchell said he is "very proud" of the program, but has to give credit to his son, Grant, for building it into something the citizens can take pride in. "He's the one that has built it up and made it good," he said.
Grant Mitchell was quick to share the credit.
"The whole town comes together to make it happen," he said. "The number of people here is a testament to what this means to the people."
The program is held at the city's Fallen Soldier Memorial Park next to the railroad in the center of town. It was built around a sculpture created by local artisan, Jack Batts, who passed away in 1988.
Batts, a world-renowned violin maker, had a shop in Johnston City. The site of that shop is now a vacant lot in town that has seen more prosperous days. However, it was once a bustling enterprise, where Batts repaired shoes, made violins for maestros around the world, and the locals gathered to share news.
Along with making and repairing shoes and violins, Batts eventually created the "fallen soldier" memorials for both West Frankfort and Johnston City, now located in the parks in the center of the towns where citizens gather to pay respect on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.