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Prayers for the nation and all who serve

Prayers for the nation and all who serve
Ron Solan of Salisbury was one of the participants in the final ceremony of the National Day of Prayer (for more photos, see National Day of Prayer). 
Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

SALISBURY — About 50 people turned out for the finale of the National Day of Prayer ceremony outside Salisbury Town Hall on Thursday, May 6.

Other services were held throughout the day in North Canaan, Falls Village, Cornwall and Sharon.

Organizer Barbara Schoenly welcomed the group to the Salisbury ceremony and noted that musician Michael Brown, who was scheduled to play keyboards and lead in singing, was unwell and unable to attend. Christine Gevert filled in ably.

After First Selectman Curtis Rand read the official proclamation of the National Day of Prayer, the Ohmen family led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Reading prayers were representatives of different groups, including Army veteran Ron Solan, who read the prayer for the military and veterans; State Police Trooper Kenneth Pelletier, who read the prayer for fire, police and emergency workers; and the Rev. Peg Laemmel from the United Methodist Church, who read the prayer for churches.

The group sang the National Anthem, “God Bless America,” and finished up with two verses of “America the Beautiful.”

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.

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