Boalsburg marks 150 years of Memorial Day rites
BOALSBURG (AP) – A central Pennsylvania community with one of the longest Memorial Day traditions on record marked the 150th anniversary of the holiday this weekend.
In fact, officials in Boalsburg in Centre County maintain the holiday actually began there in 1864. Christopher Lee, director of Boal Mansion Museum, said Memorial Day was started when “three ladies decorated soldiers’ graves” in that year.
Other towns that have staked a similar claim include Columbus, Miss. and Columbus, Ga. And President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 named Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day.
But Lee, who also heads the organization in charge of the festival, told the Centre Daily Times that what’s important is not who was first but the unbroken tradition of Boalsburg celebrations for so many years.