Rancho Bernardo Memorial Day breakfast, ceremony

Rancho Bernardo will have a much larger Memorial Day observance than in the past now that the RB Historical Society is holding its annual pancake breakfast right before military veterans conduct the community’s ceremony in Webb Park.

The 11th annual breakfast will be 8 to 11 a.m. Monday, May 30 near Webb Lake in Rancho Bernardo’s Webb Park. It is accessible from Avena Place off Bernardo Center Drive.

Breakfast tickets are $7 per person. Veterans, active duty military and children under 3 are free. Tickets can be purchased at the breakfast or in advance at the RB History Museum in Bernardo Winery, 13330 Paseo del Verano Norte.

In addition to the food, there will be live music and free children’s activities, a balloon artist and face painter. There will also be opportunities to win prizes and paint museum tiles, said RB Historical Society President Nancy Canfield.

Veterans who have yet to get their photo added to the museum’s Wall of Honor can bring a photo of themselves in uniform so it can be scanned for display. There is no charge.

At 10:45 a.m. a patriotic musical prelude featuring the Rancho Bernardo High School Madrigals will begin at the Rancho Bernardo Veterans Memorial in Webb Park. The performance will be followed by the 11 a.m. ceremony that is free and open to the public.

Attendees are advised to bring lawn chairs as ceremony seating is limited.

The ceremony is put on by the Gen. J.P. Holland Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars and the Maj. Abraham J. Baum Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7766.

The ceremony honors military personnel who died in service to the United States. It will open with a welcome by retired Navy Cmdr. Charles St.Laurent, followed by a moment of silence and invocation by retired Maj. David Korinek. Retired Navy Cmdr. Tom Lettington will lead the flag ceremony with “Taps” and the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Navy Capt. Kathryn Elliott. The Madrigals will sing the National Anthem and Air Force veteran Mervin Adams will present a wreath. Along with veterans posting the service, POW/MIA, MOWW and VFW flags, the color guard from Westview High School’s NJROTC unit will present and retire the colors.

The speaker will be Capt. Howard C. Warner III, commanding officer of Naval Base Point Loma. The native San Diegan is a 1989 U.S. Naval Academy graduate who earned master’s degrees from George Washington University and National War College’s National Defense University.

His submarine career began aboard the USS Nevada and his deployments included strike operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In addition to Monday’s events, VFW Post 7766 members will distribute the Buddy Poppy from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28 outside Vons and Albertsons in Rancho Bernardo and Ralphs in 4S Ranch.

They will also accept donations for the post’s projects that include financial support of Interfaith Community Services to aid homeless veterans, Veterans Village of San Diego and the VFW National Home in Michigan. The latter assists families of veterans and active duty personnel in crisis, survivors of veterans deceased due to service-connected disabilities who cannot meet emergency living expenses, and active duty military units deployed in combat zones overseas or in isolated cantonments in the U.S., said VFW board officer David Epstein.

“We look upon ourselves as a patriotic organization dedicated to helping those who have served and sacrificed in places and in circumstances most sane people would logically avoid,” Epstein said.

The post is open to any veteran or active duty individual who received an overseas campaign or expeditionary medal or has served on a Navy SSBN nuclear deterrent patrol. It meets on the third Wednesday from January to November at the RB Swim & Tennis Club. For details, call Epstein at 858-675-8158.