Many events planned for Memorial Day weekend

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland uses Memorial Day to honor those who have lost their lives in service to the country.

The annual celebration fills the lawn with booths set up by organizations that support troops and veterans. Community members can write letters to service members stationed abroad, in addition to dropping off items for care packages as part of Operation Troop Appreciation.

This year, Soldiers & Sailors will pay special tribute to the nearly 300 fallen Pennsylvania service members from the war on terrorism. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. Monday in the halls auditorium.

The afternoon will feature music from the Brass Roots, a brass band, and a drum corps performance by the 6th Regiment United States Colored Troops, a Civil War re-enactment group.

On Memorial Day, all city of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and federal offices and courts will be closed.

Banks and liquor stores also will be closed. There will no regular mail delivery or collection, but Express Mail will be delivered.

Garbage collection in the city will be pushed back one day all week, with Friday's regular collection being made next Saturday.

The Port Authority will operate holiday service. Its Downtown service center will be closed, but its customer service line, 412-442-2000, will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

The Soldiers & Sailors event is one of many Memorial Day-related activities being held in the region this weekend.

Here are some others:

On Sunday, the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, in Cecil, will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. featuring an address by Dr. Vincent W. Patton III, a retired Coast Guard master chief petty officer. It is open to the public.

Also on Sunday, Homewood Cemetery will host a memorial service at 2 p.m. for prisoners of war and those missing in combat. An address by Joseph Rishel, Duquesne University emeritus professor of history, will open the ceremonies, followed by a bagpipe procession.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. Monday, the Gen. Charles L. Griffin Post G.A.R. will step off with its Memorial Day parade through Munhall. The parade begins at Steel Valley High School and travels down Main Street to Homestead Cemetery. Ceremonies will conclude with an address by Maj. Scott Harbula, who served in the Air Force from 1987 to 2007 and is commander and senior aerospace science instructor at West Mifflin Area High School.

Coraopolis Memorial Day parade will begin at 1:30 p.m Monday along Fifth Avenue, from Thorn Run Road to Montour Street.

In Lawrenceville, the 107th annual Memorial Day parade begins at 10 a.m. Monday at 40th and Butler streets.

The parade, operated by St. Marys & Allegheny Cemetery Association, is one of the longest-running Memorial Day parades in the country. It will include a military color guard, city police, firefighters, bomb squad and SWAT team members, plus veterans organizations, political representatives, classic cars, community bands, Shriner clowns and local sports mascots. It ends in Allegheny Cemetery with a memorial ceremony

Carnegie Science Centers Omnimax Theater will screen D-Day: Normandy 1944, a film documenting the Allied campaign in northern France during World War II. Tickets are $8.50 for adults and $6.50 for children. Members tickets will cost $1 less.

Annie Ma: ama@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1601.

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/05/23/Many-events-planned-for-Memorial-Day-weekend/stories/201505160023