Whether in or out of public office, Memorial Day was always an important observance to George W. Owings III. In 2024, the longtime Maryland veterans affairs secretary, who died last October at age 78, will be forever associated with Memorial Day weekend in the Twin Beaches area.
Earlier this year, the Chesapeake Beach Town Council issued a resolution declaring Owings’ birthday, April 11, as George W. Owings III Day. It also resolved that the town’s annual Stars and Stripes Festival will, going forward, be known as the George W. Owings III Stars and Stripes Festival.
Owings was a lifelong Calvert County resident and decorated Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran. In addition to his tenures as veterans affairs secretary, Owings, a Democrat, also served several terms in the Maryland House of Delegates.
This year’s Memorial Day event will be held Saturday, May 25, starting at 10 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, which overlooks the Chesapeake Bay. The theme of this year’s event is “Remembering and Honoring the Fallen.”
Chesapeake Beach Mayor Pat “Irish” Mahoney told Southern Maryland News, “We reached out to people” who were friends and colleagues of Owings, and one who enthusiastically responded was Larry Hogan, Maryland’s former Republican governor under whom Owings served as veterans affairs secretary for eight years.
Mahoney noted Hogan attended and spoke at last December’s celebration of life for Owings, held at the Stallings-Williams American Legion Post in Chesapeake Beach.
Mahoney said Hogan, who is now involved in a hotly contested campaign for the U.S. Senate, “is clearing his schedule so he can come here and honor his buddy.”
The mayor noted that May 25 happens to be Hogan’s birthday.
The other speaker at the ceremony will be U.S. Air Force officer and Owings resident Brandon Temple, who has spoken at previous ceremonies. Temple is the chairman of Calvert County’s Veterans Affairs Commission.
The town had planned on having a parade following the solemn observance at the veterans park. However, Mahoney said only four families signed up. In a revised flier posted on the town’s website the parade is not mentioned.
However, a “family fun day” planned from noon to 2 p.m. at Kellam’s Field is still on for Saturday.
Some other Memorial Day weekend observances in Southern Maryland include the Chesapeake Beach American Legion’s Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park on Monday at 10 a.m. and a ceremony beginning at 1 p.m. at the Calvert County Courthouse. That observance will be hosted by all four Calvert County American Legion posts. Temple will also be the guest speaker at that event.
Also on Monday, there will be a ceremony and the “Ridge Rumble for Vets” at the American Legion Post 255 in Ridge. Motorcyclists who are participating in the rumble should arrive at 10:15 a.m. to the Ridge firehouse, and then at 10:50 a.m., the bikes will ride on Route 5 past the American Legion. A ceremony with wreath laying will begin at 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
American Legion Harry White Wilmer Post 82 in La Plata is hosting its Memorial Day ceremony Monday with a wreath laying beginning at 11 a.m. The post is located on the northbound side of U.S. Route 301 in La Plata.
For more information about Chesapeake Beach’s Stars and Stripes Festival, go to www.chesapeakebeachmd.gov.
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