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BELLEFONTE -- At its recent meeting, the Centre County Board of Commissioners
conducted three orders of business, all of which honored those who give back to the
community and highlight those who gave their all for the community.
The commissioners proclaimed Wednesday, May 8, and Thursday, May 9, as Centre Gives Days. This proclamation aimed to highlight and support the work of local nonprofits serving Centre County.
Centre Gives 2024 was a 36-hour online giving event that ran from 8 a.m. on May 8 until 8 p.m. on May 9.
With over 200 organizations participating, people could choose to donate online (centregives.org) to any of a variety of organizations ranging from youth development, such as Centre County Young Life, to arts- and culture-based organizations, like the Nittany Highland Pipe Band.
A second order of business was the proclamation of May 13 through May 18 as Police Week of 2024, with an additional proclamation of Wednesday, May 15, as Peace Officers' Memorial Day.
The commissioners recognized Peace Officers for their service and wanted to be proactive in helping residents of Centre County understand the duties, responsibilities, hazards and sacrifices of their law enforcement agencies.
As part of Police Week, Centre County Sheriff's Office will hold a memorial service to honor 136 peace officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in the past year. This event will take place at noon on Wednesday, May 15, at Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte.
Finally, the board was tasked with deciding on final resting places for two unclaimed veterans' cremains.
When weighing the two cemetery options, Director of Veterans' Affairs for Centre County, Brian Querry, said in favor of the national cemetery, "We have the option of putting them with their brothers and sisters in arms."
Querry also mentioned how much of an honor it was for Veterans' Affairs and the Coroner's Office to get to work toward finding a final resting place for these veterans.
The board decided on Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, Pa., as the final resting place for the two veterans. Both veterans will receive military honors and be interred in a columbarium, a building with compartments or niches for storing cremated remains.
Indiantown Gap National Cemetery is named for the various Native American communities -- such as the Susquehannock -- who first inhabited the land.
Between the 1700s and the late 1900s, Indiantown Gap served as a major hub for service members in many wars. Given the location's significance, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania donated 677 acres to the Veterans Administration to be used as the national cemetery. Serving as the national cemetery for veterans from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia, the cemetery serves an estimated 1.5 million veterans.