During the last few months, the Oxford Memorial Day Parade Committee watched the news about the coronavirus outbreak. It became clear, as the weeks went by and Memorial Day drew closer, that the parade would not be able to take place as it had originally been planned.

The parade committee is comprised of members of the American Legion, Oxford Borough Mayor Philip Harris, Corporal Scott Brown of the Oxford Police Department, Dr Erin Kauppila, a teacher in the Oxford Area School District, Christine Grove of the Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce, and several local business owners.

They were determined to do something to ensure that military veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice would still be honored in some way—even if the parade couldn’t take place as it usually would on Memorial Day. Harris explained that it is a tradition for Oxford to host a parade through the downtown and then for a memorial ceremony to take place at the Oxford Cemetery.

“We were committed to bringing the Memorial Day ceremony to the public,” Harris said. “We must remember and honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. We needed to get creative, while following all the COVID-19 safety guidelines.”

On two beautiful spring days last week, a memorial ceremony was staged. Jim Coarse of Moonloop Photography videotaped the ceremony and added still shots. The resulting video will be available on Memorial Day, Monday May 25, on the Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce website (OxfordPA.org), and on social media.  In addition, the ceremony can be viewed on the Ware Presbyterian Village community channel and on Oxford Area School District’s Public Access Channel (Armstrong 68).