Du Quoin 'Remember Me' Service Dec. 12

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[One of the most moving holiday services in Southern Illinois will be held Sunday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.at Liberty Church in Du Quoin.

It is called the "Remember Me Memorial" candlelight service to remember all of the area's children who have died.

This is the seventh year for the service and has a theme of "That their light may always shine."

The ceremony is open to the whole community. Everyone is invited.

It is your chance to support the parents and families of those who have lost a child or a sibling.

All who attend are asked to bring a votive candle, but it is optional. If you have any questions please contact Vickie & Dan Fletcher at 542-3781 or Pete and Sherry Wertz at 542-4369.

There is no cost to attend.

The ceremony is in conjunction with the "National Children's Memorial Day" candle lighting ceremony which takes place every year on the second Sunday of December and is observed internationally. Families around the world light candles at 7 p.m. in their corresponding time zones. As candles burn down in one time zone, they are lighted in the next, creating a 24-hour wave of light that encircles the globe.

This remembrance ceremony provides the world with lit candles for an entire 24-hour period in order to honor the children we have lost, the children who lived and died, and who, even in death, continue to matter.

According to hosts vickie and Dan Fletcher and Sherry and Pete Wertz, "This special day is for all the families who have experienced the loss of a child, at any age, from any cause. "Regardless of age, we believe our children will always be thought of as just that-- our child, says Mr. Fletcher.