Memorial Day In Simsbury: Here's How To Honor Vets

Gabby DeBenedictis
·2 min read

SIMSBURY, CT — Memorial Day weekend is only a few weeks away, and Simsbury's Metacomet Post 1926, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion Post 84 have several events planned.

The annual Memorial Day parades in Simsbury and Tariffville will return on Monday, May 30, and veterans will once again speak to students at Simsbury High School.

Here's a timeline of how the groups plan to mark the holiday:

Thursday, May 19

For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, veterans will speak to classes at Simsbury High School for the school's Veteran History Day.

Saturday, May 21

Members of Metacomet Post 1926 and American Legion Post 84, along with Simsbury Scout Troops 76B, 76G, 175 and 1175, will place American flags at the graves of military veterans in Simsbury's Center Cemetery and Tariffville's St. Bernard's Cemetery. The town provides the flags.

Friday-Sunday, May 20-22

The VFW will hold its annual Buddy Poppy Drive outside Fitzgerald's Foods (710 Hopmeadow St.) from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. each day. Volunteers will sell red cloth poppies, a symbol from World War I that is typically worn in a lapel (In 1914, American soldiers were engaged in a battle in Flanders Field, where poppies grew.)

Proceeds benefit veterans in need and programs that assist them around Farmington Valley, and anyone wishing to donate can make a check out to Simsbury VFW Post 1926 (with "Poppy Drive" on the memo line of the check) and mail it to:

Simsbury VFW Post 1926
P.O. Box 211
Simsbury, CT 06070

Monday, May 30

The two traditional Memorial Day parades will take place: Tariffville in the morning and Simsbury Center in the afternoon.

The first parade will begin at 9 a.m. from Winthrop Street in Tariffville and will end at St. Bernard Cemetery. Following the parade, a guest speaker will address the crowd and Taps will be played to honor the veterans buried there.

In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. inside Trinity Episcopal Church (11 Church St., Tariffville).

The second parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Owens Brook Boulevard and will end across from the Simsbury Library at Jim Gallagher Way. Following the parade, a ceremony will take place at the Simsbury Veterans Memorial (at the driveway entrance to the Simsbury Library, 725 Hopmeadow St.)

In case of inclement weather, a ceremony will take place at 1:30pm inside Eno Memorial Hall (754 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury).

Memorial Day In Simsbury: Here's How To Honor Vets originally appeared on the Simsbury Patch