Freedom rings on Kaskaskia Island
<p dir="ltr"><span>KASKASKIA ISLAND -- In spite of rain and threatening skies, a large crowd of patriotic citizens and guests made the trip to Kaskaskia Island for the 47th annual Patriotic Ceremony on Monday.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Due to the weather, the event was moved into the confines of the Immaculate Conception Church.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The event began with a half-hour concert by the Chester Municipal Band, directed by Steve Colonel. The group is made up of adults from the community of Chester, as well as those from surrounding towns, and Chester High School students.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>At 12:30 p.m., the VFW Post 3553 Color Guard, Chester American Legion Post 487 Color Guard and the Chester Boy Scouts Color Guard presented the colors.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The Boy Scouts then led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and Mitchell Colonel, son of Steve Colonel, led the singing of the National Anthem. </span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The younger Colonel served as the special guest vocalist for the day and sang four songs at various times throughout the ceremony.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The Rev. David Corrigan S.J. gave the invocation and officially welcomed everyone to the church. The event program noted that the church has welcomed visitors for the past 313 years dating back to 1803 with a visit from captains Merriwether Lewis and William Clark.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Master of ceremonies Don Welge opened the program with a lengthy introduction, after which Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Brown recalled some special memories of the celebration in memory of his wife, Barb brown.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Barb Brown, who served as co-Master of Ceremonies with Welge for many years, recently lost a hard-fought battle with cancer</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The couple's youngest son, Nate Brown, fulfilled one of his mother's annual duties as he introduced and recognized the visiting Fulbright Scholars that attend the Patriotic ceremony each year as part of their month-long visit to the United States via the Southern Illinois University program.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Nate Brown noted that his mother had always coordinated the "Study of the U.S. Institute on Government and Public Policy for Student Leaders" (SUSI) program and that part of the visiting student's experience was a visit to the Kaskaskia Island Patriotic Ceremony each year.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>True to tradition on Kaskaskia Island, Emily Lyons provided a warm Kaskaskia Welcome to everyone in attendance.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Lyons is associated with the National Daughters of the American Revolution Liberty Bell of the West Chapter.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Steve Colonel and the Chester Municipal Band performed "Armed Forces Medley," during which members and veterans of the respective branches of the service stood and were recognized as.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Mayor Tom Page of Chester and Mayor Ken Baer of Perryville each spoke briefly on behalf of their respective cities. </span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Jeff Warhausen, Commander of the Chester American Legion Post 487 and Bud Stallman from the Chester VFW Post 3553 each spoke as representatives of their respective organizations.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Stallman was speaking on behalf of Post 3553 Commander Rick Harrington, who was unable to attend.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Guest Speaker for the event was Thomas G. Smith, mayor of Waterloo. The title of his speech was, Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail, 1718-2016.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Smith is an expert on the trail, which runs from Cahokia to the Kaskaskia area. Several counties host to the trail, including Randolph, St. Clair and Monroe. </span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The American Legion and VFW firing squads then conducted a military salute in front of the church.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Brian Roth, a former Chester High School Band and Municipal Band trumpeter, followed with the playing of "Taps."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Welge, with the help of his grandsons, rang the Liberty Bell of the West during the annual, "Bells Ring for Liberty" portion of the service.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Kaskaskia Island serves as the home of the "Liberty Bell of the West," which was cast in 1741.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The combined VFW, American Legion and Chester Boy Scout Color Guard retired the Colors as the congregation stood at attention.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The French Marines from Fort de Chartres closed the day with a musket salute, outdoors, after the ceremony, which was produced in cooperation with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Kaskaskia Immaculate Conception Church, City of Chester and all of the other agencies mentioned in this article.</span>