Tiskilwa to Commemorate Memorial Day in Online Ceremony

Beginning Sunday evening, May 30, Tiskilwa’s Memorial Day Ceremony will be available online, hosted by Navy veteran, Jennifer Fisher. The program was recorded this past week at Tiskilwa’s Gallery on Galena and in the East Park near the war memorial monuments.

This year, the Illinois Valley Quilts of Valor is teaming up with the host organization, Tiskilwa Historical Society, to continue the village’s longstanding tradition of honoring veterans on Memorial Day.

Don Lawson, Tiskilwa Navy veteran, recently received his quilt from Ann Register of Princeton, representing the Illinois Valley Quilts of Valor.

Patriotic quilts have been presented to Don Lawson, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict and to Jennifer Fisher, who served as a U.S. Navy Corpsman from 2001 to 2006. The Lawson and Fisher families were invited to attend two private ceremonies, conducted at the Gallery, in front of its main military display. The I.V.Q.V. organization is making plans to present quilts to Tiskilwa veterans in ceremonies throughout the summer and fall.

Because pandemic restrictions concerning crowd size were still unknown during the planning stages of the event, for safety’s sake the organizations opted to record the ceremony. In recent years, the Memorial Day ceremony has drawn 150 - 200 people to Tiskilwa’s East Park, and next year the event will return to the East Park.

The link for the YouTube video will be posted on Tiskilwa Historical Society’s Facebook page as well FB’s “Remember Tiskilwa,” and at the website tiskilwahistoricalsociety.org. The society is hoping that another large crowd, this time virtual, will view the ceremony.

After the ceremony, Tiskilwa Navy veteran Jennifer Fisher shared the honor with her family: daughter Kambri, husband Kory, son KJ, her mother Mironda Lund, and her father John Longeville.