Photo courtesy of the Rose City American Legion Facebook Page
Photos by Elizabeth Ferszt
By ELIZABETH FERSZT
Contributing Writer
Memorial Day was observed Monday, May 26 this year. The national holiday is held annually to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country – their lives. A weekend full of events in Jackson ended with a parade hosted by the Jackson County Veterans Council, complete with drum corps and veterans marching. The parade began at the intersection of Jackson Street and W. Michigan Avenue, headed south on Jackson Street, then on Greenwood Avenue ending at Mount Evergreen Cemetery’s Soldier Field, where a ceremony took place.
The Laura Evans Memorial statue overlooks Soldier Field, which has been described as a “mini-Arlington.” Although those buried there are war veterans from every age and conflict, the property was conceived as the final resting place for Civil War dead.
Memorial Day was the idea of President Abraham Lincoln (R), who meant to establish an official day in memory of the war dead after Gettysburg – on both sides, Union and Confederate.
Jackson was an important site during the Civil War. Men were mustered there to be sent South to fight in such campaigns as Vicksburg – where the Michigan 2nd, 8th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 20th, 27th Infantry, and the Michigan 3rd Calvary, and the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 8th Michigan Battery lost thousands of men, as 100,000 were involved. Indeed, President Lincoln telegraphed Mich. Gov. Austin Blair (R) – who is buried in Mt. Evergreen, to send 10,000 troops to bolster the then flagging Union Army in 1863.
On Friday, May 23, although the weather was cool and a bit rainy, the inaugural (but one week early) last Friday of the month Car Show in Downtown Jackson was well attended and featured many vintage, classic, and rare cars. Folks strolled up and down Michigan Avenue as it was closed to traffic, admiring old-school vehicles and stopping to chat with their owners.
Jackson historian Linda Hass could also be seen at a booth, featuring her latest book, “The Surprising Automotive Heritage of Jackson, MI,” co-authored with junior historian Maurice Imhoff. The book celebrates Jackson’s car culture since about 1916.
Hass also explained that Jackson had a unique role to play in the inception of the Memorial Day Holiday, as Jackson sent troops to the war at the direct request of President Abraham Lincoln in telegram.
On Saturday, hundreds of people turned out for the big fireworks show at The Cascades (Sparks Park) in Jackson County even though it was about 45 degrees out by 9:30 p.m. The professional grade fireworks burst high above the Cascades Falls, which was lit with a sequence of water lights in a series of colors: white, gold, turquoise, red, blue, green, yellow, purple, pastels. The finale was a shot-ridden send-up of bursts of streaming stars, complete with actual fireballs shooting off from the top posts of the Cascades.
