By CORY ANGELL

angellcory3@gmail.com

The 28th Infantry Division Remembrance Ceremony will be held in Boalsburg, Centre County, from noon to 3:30 p.m.

Sunday, and is free to the public.

Boalsburg is home to the Pennsylvania Military Museum and the 28th Division Shrine, and claims to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. The shrine includes the 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry, whose Charlie Company serves in Lewis Run.

“The annual event at Boalsburg has special meaning for the soldiers of the 112th and their proud heritage,” said Lt. Col. Gerald Mothes, commander of the 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry.

“Members of the regiment strive to live up to our history; Boalsburg embodies that history.”

The event includes vehicle and aviation displays. Weather permitting, helicopter displays will fly in that morning.

Walmart has sponsored a picnic lunch for those in attendance. A cannonade by the artillery is presented as a 21-gun salute concluding the ceremony.

“The ceremony has been held for over 100 years,” said Tyler Gum, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. “It highlights the service and sacrifice by Pennsylvanians, with the focal point being our Gold Star Families.”

The memorial ceremony includes hundreds of soldiers from the division carrying the colors of the division, brigades, battalions and companies from across Pennsylvania. It is heavily attended by senior military leaders, veterans’ organizations and retired military.

Boalsburg claims to be the birthplace of Memorial Day with a monument nearby.

Separate from that is the shrine established by Col. Theodore Boal after World War I. It became the memorial to Pennsylvania’s 28th Infantry Division with monuments added over the past century.