'A day for tears': Cheshire commemorates Memorial Day
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CANANDAIGUA – Leif HerrGesell welcomed the rain that drenched the hamlet of Cheshire on Saturday morning.
Cheshire, as it has since the days of World War II, commemorated Memorial Day, a day that HerrGesell said is not about barbecues or fireworks.
Instead, it’s a day to remember the dead who gave their lives for their country, the Canandaigua town historian said.
“It’s a solemn day,” HerrGesell said. “It’s a day for tears.”
The Cheshire Fire Department hosted a service – which included recitations of the poem “In Flanders Fields” and the Gettysburg Address -- before parade marchers headed out to Pine Bank Cemetery, for a short service at a place where like hundreds of small towns, villages and hamlets around the country, men and women who served their country were laid to rest.
Rain wasn’t going to stop this day of remembrance.
State Sen. Pam Helming, R-Canandaigua, noted that this Memorial Day tradition continued when the COVID-19 pandemic forced so much of society to be shut down, which is a testament to this “wonderful community.”
In thanking parents for bringing children to the service, Helming said this is a lesson that helps them learn freedom isn’t free.
“It comes with a heavy price,” Helming said.
Helming also acknowledged the “horrific events” of the last few weeks – including mass fatal shootings at a Tops store in Buffalo and at a Texas elementary school -- and the mourning that followed.
Ceremonies like this that remember the American service men and women are examples of a lot of the good happening in this country, too, Helming said.
“Good people are coming together to commemorate those who paid the ultimate price,” Helming said.
Memorial Day service in the city of Canandaigua
After an absence of two years because of COVID-19, American Legion Post 256 in Canandaigua is hosting a Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 30, with a formal program set to begin at 9 a.m. at the Post, 454 N. Main St. The parade will follow at approximately 10 a.m.
The parade will step off at 10 a.m. from the Legion Post and proceed south on Main Street to West Gibson Street. Marchers will turn right on West Gibson Street and proceed down to North Pearl Street. The parade will turn right on North Pearl Street and end at Woodlawn Cemetery.
A program will be held in the cemetery's upper section of the Old Veterans Lot. Participants may observe the program from the lower fish bowl area. Parking on the roadways will be allowed but not on the access road on the lower level. Do not park on the soft grassy shoulder of the road. Pets are not allowed on the cemetery grounds.
The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 256 will hold a service at the end of the City Pier for those veterans who were lost at sea.
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: 'A day for tears': Cheshire commemorates Memorial Day
