New event at Lincoln Tomb adds to flag ceremony

'Distant Memories' describes Lincoln funeral just before flag-lowering ceremony on Tuesdays this summer

[June 03, 2013]  SPRINGFIELD -- The summer tradition of a weekly flag-lowering and retreat ceremony at the Lincoln Tomb resumes Tuesday, paired with a new event that tells the story of President Lincoln's funeral with vivid detail.

"Lincoln's Funeral: Distant Memories" will be presented in June, July and August. An 1865 historic interpreter describes the wake, funeral procession and burial service at the Old Receiving Vault in Oak Ridge Cemetery. The presentation begins at 5:30 p.m. and ends at 6:45 p.m. -- in time for the flag ceremony by the 114th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

The U.S. flag flying over Lincoln Tomb will be lowered during the colorful, solemn ceremony and presented to a visitor each Tuesday night. The ceremony will include the firing of a Civil War-era mortar.

The 7 p.m. ceremony lasts approximately half an hour. Afterward, the tomb will be open to the public until 8 p.m.

The 114th Regiment was mustered into federal service on Sept. 18, 1862. Eight hundred and ninety-five officers and enlisted men from Cass, Menard and Sangamon counties were accepted into service with the unit.

Today, this regiment serves Illinois communities in many ways: participating in public functions as a ceremonial guard, portraying the lives and beliefs of Civil War soldiers in re-enactments, and offering a college scholarship to central Illinois students.

The Tuesday evening events are sponsored by the Lincoln Monument Association and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which operates the Lincoln Tomb. The tomb, along with the state's World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War memorials, is in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery, 1500 Monument Ave. All are open daily for free tours.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]