PHOTOS: The Rotary Club of Windermere hosts Memorial Day Ceremony | West Orange Times & Observer

The Rotary Club of Windermere held a memorial ceremony to honor those who served the country on Monday 30 May.

The picturesque ceremony was attended by a fair number of people, as they all enjoyed the shade provided by the trees while listening to the ceremony.

Windermere Mayor Jim O’Brien addressed the audience.

‘I have the privilege of welcoming you to the town of Windermere,’ he said. “Thank you for joining us today as we remember and reflect on the service and sacrifice of these soldiers who laid down their lives so that we could have the freedoms that are the cornerstone of our great nation.”

Lori Moran sang “Let There Be Peace On Earth” first, then performed the national anthem as West Orange High School’s ROTC presented the colors and closed the ceremony with a performance of “God Bless America.”

The keynote speaker, retired special forces Calvin Wimbish, also addressed the audience. He recited a soldier’s prayer that he had heard during his years of service.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, today we honor the men and women who have died in the service of our country,” he read. “We pause to reflect the lives sacrificed while protecting our freedom. We confess most of the time that we are unaware of the price paid by the men and women in uniform, and yet we live each day in the freedom that they sacrificed their lives to give us.

“So today, Lord, we will call the words of Jesus when he said ‘there is no greater man than he who laid down his life for his friends.’ Let us not forget that each life lost represents another life left to put the pieces back together. We live with widows and widowers, brothers and sisters, parents and children, men and women of service who have fought valiantly for our country to be free.