It’s that unofficial kickoff to the summer, and Tri-Town’s traditional activities will continue this year, with a few minor changes here and there.
Marion:Memorial Day preparations begin on Saturday, May 26, at 10:00 am at Evergreen Cemetery on Route 6 with the Scouts and other volunteers tidying up the cemetery and planting flowers on veterans’ graves. Anyone wishing to volunteer may arrive at the cemetery to help out, and any help is always welcome.
On Monday, May 28, the Memorial Day ceremony will start at 9:00 am at the Marion Music Hall on Front Street. The Town welcomes guest speaker Lt. Col. Jeremy Beaven, USMC, a Bronze Star recipient, among other honors.
Note, however, that there is a new parade route this year, which begins at the Music Hall and heads north on Front Street marching 0.6 miles up Front Street to the Veterans’ Memorial at Old Landing. Upon arrival at the Veterans’ Memorial, the town will pay tribute to our military’s “honored dead” who “gave the last full measure of devotion.”
The Sippican School Band as well as the Portuguese American Band will be performing and marching, and in the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held inside Sippican School.
“We have been rained out the past couple of years, so we are hoping for good weather this year,” said Marion Memorial Day Committee member Donna Hemphill.
Rochester:The Town of Rochester holds its Memorial Day observance on Sunday, May 27, on the steps of Town Hall at noon. The annual parade will follow, featuring the RMS School Band, Rochester Firefighters, Police, and Scouts.
Then on Monday is the 84thannual Rochester Memorial Day Boat Race on the Mattapoisett River, beginning at 8:30 am at Grandma Hartley’s Reservoir on Snipatuit Road and finishing at the Herring Weir in Mattapoisett off Route 6/River Road. The trophy ceremony is at Rochester Memorial School that evening at 7:30 pm.
“This is the 84thanniversary of the race, and it remains one of the few racing events with no entry fees as it was in 1934 when it was started,” said race chairman Arthur Benner.
Mattapoisett:There has been a change in venue this year for the Florence Eastman Post 280 of the American Legion Memorial Day parade and ceremony, which will now be held at Center School on Monday, May 28 at 1:30 pm.
Guest speaker is Military Professor Colonel Christopher J. Kidd of the U.S. Army. Colonel Kidd has a lengthy military career with multiple deployments and is now a military professor at the Naval War College in Newport, RI.
The Old Hammondtown School Band will perform and, following the ceremony, the parade will form on Barstow Street and proceed to the Mattapoisett Library for a wreath ceremony at the WWI Monument, the Civil War Monument, and the Florence Eastman Stone. From the library, the parade will proceed to the Town Wharf where an observance will be held for those who lost their lives at sea. Units will be dismissed at the Town Wharf following the ceremony.
The Wanderer wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day, and if you see us pointing a camera at you at any of these events, smile! And don’t forget to read The Wanderer … You might be in it!