Staff report
The month of May in North Carolina is when the Sons of Confederate Veterans celebrate their Confederate history and heritage.
The Rowan Rifles SCV Camp 405 has set aside Saturday for this. A memorial service will start at 10 A.M. at the Old Lutheran Cemetery on North Lee Street. A number of participants will be in uniform and/or period dress, and there will be Confederate flags to honor their Confederate veterans.
After a number of speeches and songs to honor the veterans, there will be a 21-gun salute over the graves of Confederate veterans.About 11 a.m., the Sons of Confederate Veterans will parade up North Lee Street ending up at the well-known Confederate monument “Fame,” at the corner of Innes and Church streets. The public is invited to the ceremony and to join the parade.
North Carolina first started to commemorate the sacrifice of Tar Heel Confederate soldiers in 1867. A group of ladies met in Raleigh and decorated the graves of Confederate soldiers in the Oakwood Cemetery there. The practice soon spread across the state.
Today, May 10 is the day observed as Confederate Memorial Day throughout North Carolina.