Memorial Day events return

After canceling last year’s traditional commemoration due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Belgium’s Memorial Day parade and ceremony are back this year.

At 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 31, the parade will step off near Main Street at East Lane and head west to Community Park. People are asked not to park along the parade route.

At 11 a.m., a ceremony will be held at Community Park. John Riordan will be the keynote speaker. Riordan, working as assistant manager for Citibank’s branch in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1975, saved 106 Vietnamese and had them flown to America before communists took over the city. To pull it off, Riordan claimed all 33 bank employees and their immediate families were related to him.

Riordan published a book, “They Are All My Family,” about his story in 2015 and was the subject of a piece on “60 Minutes.”

After the ceremony, refreshments will be available and tours of the recently renovated hall at the American Legion Melvin Wester Post 412 at 655 Park St. will be offered.