People are welcome to bring their old, worn down flags to hand over to the veterans at the Elida Village Office that will dispose of them according to the U.S. flag code.

The lives of all American military men and women lost in the line of duty were honored on Monday at the annual Allen County Veterans Council Memorial Day service. The ceremony began with a march led by local Boy Scouts to the flagpole in Lima's Town Square. The American flag was raised from half to full staff, followed by the playing of Taps. Participants then marched back to VFW Post 1275 where community members laid wreaths on an unmarked grave for lost loved ones. Steve Montgomery, an Allen County Veterans Council board member says while this day is to pay tribute to lives taken in war, it is also important to continuously remind the public why it's done.

The Disabled Veterans of America Lima Chapter along with the Marine Corps League Chapter 1063 are giving people the chance to have their old American flags disposed of properly. They will be set up at the Village Office in Elida on Friday, June 11th, and Saturday, June 12th to collect the flags, and will even have flags to buy and replace the old ones.

Area veterans are stepping up to help take care of their own with a home project.

Lexaville Harris has lived at his 17th street home for quite some time, but hasn't had a ramp in the front of his house. The Disabled American Veterans, Chapter #19 is taking care of that by installing one for him. Harris is a veteran of the Navy and has increasing health concerns. The DAV had the parts needed donated from several places including a manufacturer in Michigan. Members of the DAV worked all day to put the ramp in place.

"Most Memorial Day activities across America have been canceled, postponed or abbreviated, such as we are doing here." At the beginning of the year, no one could have predicted that Memorial Day 2020 would look like this: Sunny sky, hot day, face masks and social distancing.  In Lima, the Memorial Day Parade and service at the VFW were canceled. But Mayor David Berger agreed to allow the Marine Corp. League to hold a small ceremony outside the civic center. 

Members of the community lined Main Street this morning for a Memorial Day tradition. The sun was shining bright for the 2019 edition of the Lima Memorial Day Parade. Many came out to see the 49 different groups that took part in this year’s holiday parade. Although Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have served the United States but did not return home, Lima honored those people that helped many make it home. The Grand Marshalls this year were veterans who were corpsman, medics, or nurses.