Manchester set to hold Memorial Day parade
May 6—MANCHESTER — After a two-year absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the town will hold its annual Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 30, starting at 9:30 a.m.
The parade steps off in front of the Army & Navy Club, 1090 Main St., turns east on East Center Street, and then turns west at Agostenelli Memorial Park, and will conclude at the Center Memorial Park for a Memorial Day Program.
Wreaths will be laid at each monument to veterans along the route.
The parade marshal will be Navy veteran Yeoman 3rd Class Joe Haney. He joined the Navy in 1994, was assigned to Patrol Squadron 9 in Hawaii, and made three deployments in the western Pacific. In 2000 he joined the Connecticut Army National Guard and was assigned to Company G 104th Aviation stationed in Windsor Locks at Bradley International Airport.
He is an active member of The American Legion Department of Connecticut, where he holds the position of state historian. He is a member of VFW Post 1926 in Simsbury a post in which his grandfather was a member.
The keynote speaker is Coast Guard veteran Alan Lamson, a 52-year resident of Manchester. He is a 1968 graduate of USCG Officer Candidate School, Yorktown, Va., and was honorably discharged as a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard Reserve.
He is a former director of planning and economic development for Manchester and received the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award in 2019.
The youth speaker will be Connor Ruganis, a junior at Manchester High School.
The Memorial Day parade chaplin will be Maj. R. Michael Himes from the Salvation Army.
If the parade is canceled for inclement weather, the Center Memorial Park Program will be held indoors at The Salvation Army, 661 Main St., at 11 a.m. (no masks required).
On Sunday, May 29, at 9:45 a.m. a church service and massing of the colors will be held at the Salvation Army, 661 Main St. The public is invited.
