Memorial Day weekend: See if your community is holding a ceremony
Communities throughout Central Mass. will be paying tribute to those who died in the military with Memorial Day events this weekend.
Many annual events were put on hold the past two years because of the pandemic.
Auburn
Monday: The Chester P. Tuttle American Legion Post 279 will host the annual Memorial Day Parade. The parade will form on Bryn Mawr Avenue, Prospect Parkway and Rockland Road and will step off at 10 a.m. View here for full schedule and lineup of guests.
Boylston
Monday: Katie’s 5 K Road Race begins at 9 a.m. The race honors Katie Chalifoux, Boylston resident and graduate of Tahanto Regional High School. For more information on the race, or to register to run, go to katies5k.com.
The Memorial Day Parade begins at 10:30 a.m. at Pine Grove Cemetery and will proceed to the Old Burial Ground and onto the Town Common.
The Boylston Garden Club will be holding its Memorial Day plant sale on the Common from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Inventory will include perennials and annuals. Proceeds go toward beautifying 15 garden sites throughout the town.
There will also be a fundraising drawing for a barred owl house, and the Garden Club will be handing out packets of sunflower seeds. Sunflowers are the official flower of Ukraine and have become a symbol of peace. A card will read, "We imagine lovely sunflowers brightening the local gardens of Boylston and symbolizing hope for global peace."
Charlton
Monday: Post 391 will host the annual Memorial Day parade, scheduled to step off at 2 p.m. Participants are to assemble at 1:30 p.m. at the main entrance of the Masonic Home complex at 88 Masonic Home Road. Marchers will head to Charlton Public Library
Memorial wreaths will be placed on the Town Honor Roll, and memorial rifle salutes will be given. There will be honored speakers and music performed by the Shepherd Hill Regional High School Marching Band. Charlton Middle School students will read their selections honoring veterans.
Clinton
Monday: The annual Memorial Day Parade will begin at 9 a.m. with a speaking program at Central Park. The parade will assemble on Union Street and proceed down High Street to Water Street with stops at Depot Square, Woodlawn Cemetery and end up at St. John's Cemetery.
East Brookfield
Monday: A ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Podunk Cemetery. Parade formation will begin at 10:45 a.m. at the Town Hall on Connie Mack Drive, and the parade will leave from there at 11 a.m. The parade will proceed to Evergreen Cemetery and then to Depot Square.
Veterans are invited to march or ride in vehicles that the town will provide. The parade and ceremony will also be joined by grand marshal and head of the East Brookfield American Legion Wayne Boulette, members of the Fire Association, the Boy and Girl Scouts and the David Prouty Marching Panther Band. Students from East Brookfield Elementary will recite Memorial Day poems.
Fitchburg
Monday: The opening ceremony will begin at at 7:45 a.m. at Monument Park. There will be prayers and volleys at cemeteries and monuments citywide, beginning with Eastwood Monument at 8 a.m., breakfast at the Eastwood Club at 8:15 a.m., St. Bernard’s Cemetery at 8:45 a.m., American War Monument at 9 a.m., Laurel Hill Cemetery at 9:15 a.m., Jewish Cemetery at 9:30 a.m., St. Joseph’s Cemetery at 9:45 a.m. and Forest Hill Cemetery at 10 a.m. The Memorial Day Ceremony will conclude at the Upper Common at 10:30 a.m.
Gardner
Monday: The Memorial Day Parade will begin at 9:15 a.m. at the American Legion on Elm Street and proceed to Monument Park on Cottage Street for the 10 a.m. Memorial Day ceremony, featuring guests, speeches, music, taps, readings and more.
Marchers will meet in the parking lot on Elm Street, while riders will meet in the small city lot at the rotary.
Grafton
Monday: Cemetery ceremonies will be held as follows: 7:30 a.m. at the Old Farnumsville Cemetery in South Grafton; 7:45 a.m.at Fairview Cemetery in South Grafton; 8 a.m. at Sampson Square, South Grafton Common; 8:15 a.m. at Wenc Square at the corner of Main and Elmwood streets, South Grafton; 8:30 a.m. at Riverside Cemetery; 8:45 a.m. at St. Philip’s Cemetery; 9 a.m. at Old Indian Cemetery, 48 Oak St.; 9:30 a.m. at Grafton State Hospital on Pine Street; 9:45 a.m. at Pine Grove Cemetery, 20 Waterville St.; 10 a.m. at Washington Mills Bridge; 10:15 a.m. at the Quinsigamond Corner monument in North Grafton.
The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. at North Street Elementary School, heading down North Street and arriving at Grafton Common at noon for a ceremony and flag raising.
The Grafton American Legion Post and the VFW post organizes the ceremonies and parade Monday morning. The event is hosted by the Delisle-Goulet American Legion Post 92.
Holden
Monday: The Memorial Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. from the Recreation Department at 1420 Main St. The parade will proceed through St. Mary Cemetery, Grove Cemetery, Park Avenue Cemetery and Old Burying Ground in order, where a prayer, Girl Scout song, rifle salute, and taps will be conducted at each. The parade will end on Main Street at the post office.
Mountview Middle School’s brass ensemble will perform at Town Hall from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. while the parade proceeds through town.
Hubbardston
Monday: The Memorial Day Parade will line up at 10 a.m. at Curtis Recreation Field on Route 68 and begin at 11 a.m. to the Town Common, followed by a ceremony at noon.
The town is holding a "welcome-home" event for Vietnam veterans and unveiling of a Vietnam Veteran’s monument, as well as the restored Civil War monument and the memorials that honor those who fought in the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War.
Lancaster
Monday: Program begins at 9 a.m. at the Town Green. After the Memorial Day program, the parade, led by the American Legion, will proceed to North Cemetery for the laying of flowers and wreaths on graves, and taps will be played. The parade will then proceed back to the Town Green.
Participants are asked to be at the Green by 8:45 a.m. The Lancaster band will perform.
Leicester
Monday: The annual parade starts at 10:30 a.m. at Memorial School and will proceed to the Town Common, where a ceremony will be held.
Marlborough
Monday: The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the American Legion headquarters on Maple Street. It will march from the Legion Post to Main Street and finish at Monument Square at 11 a.m., where remarks honoring veterans will be given. Parade participants include veterans, local Scouting groups, marching bands and elected officials.
The parade will stop to decorate the monuments to veterans of the Vietnam War, Korean Conflict, World Wars I and II, the Spanish American War and the Civil War. Each ceremony will include taps and a gun salute.
Northborough
Monday: The Memorial Day parade and ceremonies will begin at noon at the Civil War Memorial and the Gulf War Memorial with the parade stepping off at about 12:15 p.m. marching to the Tri-War Memorial at Hudson and Pierce streets, then to the WWI Memorial at Church and Whitney streets and ending at the Veterans Memorial/Flagpole in the Howard Street Cemetery. The concluding ceremony will take place on the cemetery grounds.
Northbridge
Monday: The Blackstone Valley Veterans Association team will meet at 9:30 a.m. at Granite and Church streets in Whitinsville. The Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. and proceed down Church Street to the Common, followed by a ceremony at Memorial Park.
Putnam
Monday: The parade will start at 10 a.m. at the monument on Grove Street and end on Kennedy Drive. The observance will conclude with a speaking ceremony at Rotary Park.
Rutland
Monday: Participants will assemble at 7 a.m. at Community Hall, 250 Main St., and at 7:45 a.m. they will proceed to New Boston Cemetery, West Rutland Cemetery, Brooks Square, Memorial Field and the Veterans Memorial for services.
The parade will start assembling at 9:45 a.m. in front of the Community Hall and step off at 10 a.m., proceeding down Main Street to Rural Cemetery for memorial services, after which the parade returns up Main Street to the Town Commons for services.
Shrewsbury
Monday: A Memorial Day parade will form at 9 a.m. and depart at 9:30 a.m. from the Richard D. Carney Municipal Office Building, 100 Maple Ave., with opening remarks at 9:20 a.m. The parade will march to the Town Center (Route 140 and Main Street) at which a memorial address will be given and then continues to Mountain View Cemetery.
Southbridge
Monday: The Memorial Day parade will at 10 a.m., starting in front of the Town Hall's GAR Monument and making a right onto Main Street. It will end at the Gold Star Mothers Monument.
Sterling
Monday: The Memorial Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. at Hillside Cemetery. Buses for participants will start running at 10 a.m. from the Legion Hall on School Street to the fire station on Main Street, then to Hillside Cemetery on Route 62. Marchers will begin formation at 10:45 a.m. The parade will proceed to Oak Hill Cemetery, Old Cemetery, and down Maple Street to the Town Common for the observance program.
The Avenue of Flags will be on display from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hillside Cemetery, weather permitting. Anyone, including Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, who would like to help honor deceased veterans should arrive at the cemetery at 7:30 a.m. to help raise the flags.
The event is hosted by the Hiram O. Taylor American Legion Post 189.
Sutton
Monday: Members of the Dudley-Gendron American Legion Post, SAL Detachment Unit 414, will visit cemeteries and memorial sites, starting with West Sutton Cemetery at 7:15 a.m. The parade will begin at 11:15 a.m. at Sutton Common near Town Hall and proceed to Sutton High School on Memorial Drive for an 11:45 a.m. program and a flag raising at noon.
Westborough
Monday: Ceremonies will be conducted at several parks and cemeteries, including Veterans Minuteman Park at 8:30 a.m., St Luke’s Cemetery at 9 a.m., and Pine Grove Cemetery at 9:40 a.m. The parade will depart from Pine Grove on South Street at 10:10 a.m. and proceed down South Street, with a stop at Midland Cemetery, through the rotary and to the Forbes Municipal Building for the 11 a.m. presentations.
West Boylston
Monday: The first service is at St. Luke's at 8:30 a.m., with a prayer offered by Deacon Martin Beck, of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and remarks by Larry Linquist, commander of American Legion Post 204. Linquist will decorate the veterans memorial. The salute will be by the American Legion Firing Line.
The service at High Plains begins at 9:15 a.m. Assemble at High Street, then move to the veterans' lot. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by the West Boylston Girl Scouts. Miru Kunst will recite "In Flanders Field." The prayer will be offered by the Rev. Michelle Grube, Oakdale United Methodist Church. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address will be spoken by Jack Crowley. Linquist will decorate the veterans' memorial. The American Legion Firing Line will do the salute.
There is a parade starting at the Duncan Gillies parking lost, 66 Central St., to Mount Vernon Cemetery starting at 10:30 a.m. The Memorial Flag will be carried by the Boy Scouts of West Boylston with the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Girl Scouts of West Boylston. The flag folded by the Boy Scout Troop 151 is from U.S. Rep. James McGovern.
Worcester
Monday: The Memorial Day Observance Remembrance Ceremony will be at 9 a.m. at Hope Cemetery, Webster Street. A wreath-laying ceremony will be at 11 a.m. at the Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Green Hill Park, followed by another wreath-laying ceremony at 1 p.m. the Korean War Memorial on Foster Street.
To include your group's Memorial Day event on this list, send information to newstips@telegram.com.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Memorial Day weekend in Central Mass.: See if your community is holding a ceremony
