The heat and humidity didn't deter the residents from lining Main Street at 11 a.m. on Memorial Day. Nor did it give pause to the boy scouts, girl scouts, members of the clergy, VFW officers and honored guests from participating in the 2012 Memorial Day Celebration in Chester.

Chester Borough and Bernays Apgar American Legion Post 342 hosted the event, which began at the Gazebo on Main Street and then continued via processional to the Maysey Memorial and War Veteran Site.

While Pastor Allen Briggs, First Congregational Church, addressed the crowd and Reverend Chris Scivens, Community Presbyterian Church, led a closing prayer, the keynote speaker was Lieutenant Colonel Herb Koehler, Garrison Commander at the Picatinny Arsenal.

The event culminated in a roll call reading of Chester's fallen soldiers, honoring those who left Chester to defend freedom and never returned.