The union soldier monument, pictured here in 1915, has needed to be restored three times since its erection in 1889.
American flags and flowers will adorn the graves of veterans as a band plays patriotic songs for the annual Memorial Day observance hosted at Redwood City’s Historic Union Cemetery.
For 135 years, the Historic Union Cemetery Association has hosted the event in front of the statue of a Union Army soldier, erected atop an 8-foot pedestal on the inaugural Memorial Day celebration in 1889.
The soldier looks over the 38 veterans buried at the east corner of the grounds. The plot honors the Grand Army of the Republic, those honorably discharged members of the Union side, who relocated to California.
The Memorial Day celebrations include the presentation of colors, a choral performance from Sequoia High School and a keynote speech from Jim Hartnett, former Redwood City mayor and Navy veteran. The observance is punctuated with the firing of an anvil that HUCA President Kathy Klebe said is “very popular.”
“It’s extremely loud and bothers a lot of dogs and car alarms, but it really is cool and it honors how it used to be when it served as a signal for attention,” Klebe said.
Klebe said there are around 100 veterans buried at the cemetery and the rest represent the everyday person who contributed to the early days of Redwood City.
“It’s a working person’s cemetery,” she said. “They deserve our respect. They had a harder life than we do in terms of getting by every day but they did amazing things and built amazing roads and buildings and made Redwood City a prosperous place.”
The land for the cemetery was purchased in 1859, and stopped selling plots for burial in the 1920s and soon became inactive, making it susceptible to vandalism, weed overgrowth and broken fencing. A group of local archivists began collecting money to restore the cemetery, and worked to get it made a California historical Landmark in 1967 and named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Though the HUCA gets funding support from the city because of the land’s designation as a city park, Klebe said it is entirely maintained and kept up by herself, her husband, and other volunteers. The association board members help give tours and put on events such as the Memorial Day observance.
“I think we really enjoy telling other Redwood City people the treasure that we have,” she said of the triangular plot of land off Woodside Road. “We have people buried here who literally found the city and helped build it.”
Kelebe said most of the volunteers got involved over a deep appreciation for history. This value and a desire to honor veterans have kept the association’s ability to continue to put on the longest-living Memorial Day observation in the Peninsula.
“Interpreting history for people, telling them about the lives of the people, is just so much more interesting than the way that I learned about history, which was memorizing dates,” Klebe said. “It’s really about people, it’s who they are and what they think and do that makes history.”
The celebration at the Historic Union Cemetery located at 316 Woodside Road will begin at 10 a.m. May 27.
Other Memorial Day observations around the Peninsula include the 83rd annual celebration at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno at 10:30 a.m., featuring the San Andreas Brass Band, the 23rd Marine Regiment Presentation of Colors, and the American Legion Post 105 Gun Salute.
Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo will also be holding a 11 a.m. ceremony to honor veterans featuring the San Jose Police Emerald Society Pipe Band and complimentary lunch.
(65) 344-5200 ext. 106
Daily Journal staff
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