The birthplace of Memorial Day

AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reports on the origin of Memorial Day.

Transcript

00:00The long holiday weekend is known as the unofficial kickoff to summer,

00:04filled with cookouts, road trips, and for some beach vacations.

00:07Absolutely. Now, the meaning behind Memorial Day is to honor our nation's fallen heroes.

00:11AccuElla's Bill Waddell takes us into the tiny town that claims Memorial Day began in central Pennsylvania.

00:20From the bands in the parade,

00:22to the cannon, sounding the start of the run,

00:26We're working on re-strapping.

00:27And the crackling of a fire inside the blacksmith shop.

00:31The sights, sounds, and traditions behind Memorial Day run deep in Bowlesburg, Pennsylvania.

00:38In 1864 was the first time three women who had lost their loved ones

00:44went to the cemetery and put flowers on their graves.

00:49Heather Ricker-Gilbert says that tradition, first known as Dedication Day,

00:53is now marked across the country as Memorial Day.

00:56There were 600,000 Confederate and Union soldiers who died in the Civil War.

01:04And I think it's really important that we honor that.

01:08This community came together to preserve and protect relics from the elements

01:13inside the Bowlesburg Heritage Museum and at other sites around town.

01:19We really need to keep, have a place for our artifacts and to kind of keep our history.

01:25During a holiday weekend filled with parades and barbecues, historians and local history lovers

01:31say it's important to take time and learn about the past.

01:35We're really fortunate that we can have such an important claim for such a nationally renowned holiday.

01:42I think that everybody should get to know as much history as they can because it's the context of the world that we live in.

01:48This is the beginning where it all began.

01:52A tradition nearly 160 years old.

01:55Still going strong today.

01:57Rain or shine.

01:59For AccuWeather, I'm Bill Waddell.