When Alan Noll, Mike Martin, Ron Folker, and Lemar Martin gathered at the Memorial Day marker at St. Stephen Church recently, a spirited discussion broke out about how long each had participated in the annual Memorial Day Pilgrimage organized by the United Veterans' Council (UVC) of New Holland.

According to Mike, the other three men were selling themselves short on the number of years they had taken part. "I've been doing it at least 40, and I would have thought all of you were over 40 too," he said. Finally, the four agreed that all had been involved for at least 30 years.

On Monday, May 27, the Ceremonial Units of the UVC of New Holland will conduct the 102nd pilgrimage to cemeteries in eastern Lancaster County. Units will form at 6:30 a.m. at the American Legion in New Holland and will leave at 6:45 a.m. to conduct services at 12 area cemeteries.

Area veterans are invited to participate in the ceremonies. Members of the UVC would like to see younger veterans get involved in helping to preserve the tradition of the pilgrimage. The approximate time schedule of the ceremonies at each location is Ranck's United Methodist Church at 7 a.m.; Cedar Grove Presbyterian Church at 7:15 a.m.; Bridgeville Evangelical Congregational Church at 7:30 a.m.; Bowmansville Memorial Park at 8 a.m.; St. John Center Lutheran Church at 8:45 a.m.; Terre Hill Community Memorial Park at 9:15 a.m.; Voganville Cemetery at 10 a.m.; Groffdale Mennonite Church at 10:20 a.m.; Zeltenreich Reformed Church at 10:40 a.m.; Evangelical United Methodist Church, New Holland, at 11:05 a.m.; Trinity Lutheran Church, New Holland, at 11:20 a.m.; and St. Stephen Reformed Church, New Holland, at 11:30 a.m. The pilgrimage will conclude with a ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in New Holland at 11:45 a.m. There will be no speaker in the park following the final ceremony.

The mission of the annual Memorial Day Pilgrimage is to honor military veterans from the community. Members of the New Holland Band take part in the pilgrimage, which includes a ceremony at the grave of the last veteran buried at each cemetery. The family members of that veteran are invited to attend and place flowers on the grave during the ceremony.