Memorial Day weekend marks the threshold of summer, and this past weekend brought lots of outdoor events to mark the occasion. From Hanceville’s well-attended Grilled Cheese Festival to the weekend festival at Smith Lake Park, people turned out to catch an early-season taste of warmer things to come — never mind the almost cool late-May temperatures that settled in to give the proceedings a milder springtime flavor.

The reason for the long holiday weekend, though, is the nationwide annual commemoration of the sacrifices U.S. service members have made throughout America’s history, as veterans and civilians alike paused to offer gratitude for all who paid with their lives while answering their country’s call. and while this year’s Memorial Day ceremony in Cullman might not have featured the recreational fun that beckoned elsewhere, attendance was especially strong — even for a community that typically turns out for patriotic events.

With all seats taken at Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday, many guests were happy to stand throughout the hour-long ceremony to honor fallen soldiers, both local and from all across the U.S., in observation of the solemn occasion. This year’s ceremony was signified by military recognitions of a uniquely local nature, as retired Army Col. Don Fallin led the assembly in remembering five fallen service members — all with Cullman ties — who lost their lives aboard airborne missions during the Vietnam War.

Family members and friends of the five soldiers — U.S. Marine Maj. Wayne Hyatt, Army pilot Orman Phillips, Army crew chief Neil Wade Jones, U.S. Army Maj. Bill Schmale, and U.S. Army Lt. Col. William Phillips — received an American Flag and heard poignantly humorous anecdotes about their loved ones from Fallin and other speakers, all of it appropriate for the day’s other unique occasion: the dedication of the new, Vietnam War-era Huey helicopter as a permanent memorial installation at the park.

Flanked by other well-preserved military relics and drawing eyes upward from its overlooking perch above the park’s pavilion, the old-yet-new helicopter proved a hit with families and children, many of whom were in no hurry to leave once the formal portion of the ceremony was done.

Local veterans with Cullman’s VFW Post 2214 say eye appeal was part of the idea all along in working with local governments and volunteers to fund the installation, which stands alongside other amenities that make the well-maintained park-within-a-park at Sportsman Lake a welcoming — and meaningful — place to visit not only on patriotic holidays, but all throughout the year.