CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Veterans gather at the Barnstable Senior Center for a Memorial Day service on May 21, 2015.
BARNSTABLE – Towns from one end of Cape Cod to the other will hold Memorial Day parades and services on Monday, May 25.
Falmouth Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, begins with a parade from the Village Green at 9:45 a.m. The ceremony is at 10 a.m. on Memorial Lane on the library lawn at 300 Main Street.
Sandwich Memorial Day Parade put on by the American Legion Post 188 meets at 9 a.m. at Henry T. Wing Elementary School at 33 Water Street, Sandwich. The parade starts promptly at 10 a.m.
Mashpee Memorial Day Ceremony at 10 a.m. at Mashpee Community Park begins with a parade to Monument Circle, Veteran’s Garden. The parade will be followed by the raising of the flag, Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem; an Invocation by Rev. John Lopes; and guest speakers VFW Post Commander Rebecca Silva, Women’s Auxiliary President Sherri Peters, Mashpee Selectman John Cahalane, and Kenneth and Cindy Jones, founders of the nonprofit Heroes in Transition.
The Town of Barnstable’s Annual Memorial Day Parade will be held on Monday, May 25. The parade will form at 9:30 am at the Centerville Library and kick off sharply at 10 am and proceed down Main Street to Monument Square for a brief program then up Old Stage Road to Beechwood Cemetery for the main program. This year’s Keynote Speaker will be 2nd Lieutenant Anamaria D. Gaitan, assigned to the 6th Space Warning Squadron. The public is invited to bring pictures of a family member, relative, friend or acquaintance who has passed away and was a veteran with them to the event. The parade will not reform but streets will remain blocked to allow safe foot traffic back to the Library.
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Trust Fund Committee annual Memorial Day Ceremony will take place at approximately 12:15 p.m., Monday, May 25th, at the John F. Kennedy Memorial on Ocean Street (located next to Veterans Beach). The Ceremony will be assisted by a group of Cub Scouts from Pack 54, the Barnstable Police Department Honor Guard and other special guests. It is at this ceremony that the 2015 JFK Memorial Trust Fund Scholarship will be awarded to this year’s recipient, a 2015 Barnstable High School Graduate. This year’s scholarship winner of $2,500 is Dylan Campbell. All are welcome to attend.
The annual Town of Yarmouth Memorial Day ceremony takes place in front of Yarmouth Town Hall on Monday, May 25, at 11 a.m.
For the Dennis Memorial Day Observance Ceremony, parade participants assemble at 8:45 a.m. at the corner of Route 134 and Hokum Rock Road. The parade begins at 9:30 a.m. The speaking program begins at 10 a.m. at the Marshside Restaurant in Dennis. In inclement weather, the speaking program will be held at the Dennis Senior Center. Program speakers include Selectman Paul McCormick and Marine Corps League Chaplin Vernon Ellars. The Mattacheese Middle School Band will perform the National Anthem. State Representative Timothy Whelan will also speak.
The Town of Chatham Memorial Day Ceremony will be held on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th, beginning at 10 a.m. Participants will assemble at Veterans Field Road parking lot beginning at 9:30 AM. This will include members of the Chatham VFW and American Legion, Veterans, the Ladies and Mens Auxiliary to the Chatham VFW, the Chatham Coast Guard Color Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Clergy, Town employees and Selectmen, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Brownies.
The group will move to five different memorial sites and conclude at Veterans Circle. At each site there will be a brief ceremony to include a wreath placement, a rifle salute by members of the Chatham VFW, and a playing of Taps by Emily VanRyswood. Participants will step off from the Veterans Field Road parking lot at 9:55 that morning and stop at the World War I Memorial, located on the left of the Community Center. The Town of Chatham Memorial Day Ceremony will begin here at 10. Following the ceremony, the procession will then proceed down Main Street and stop briefly at Nickerson Park. This is the site where a World War II Memorial Dedication will take place following the conclusion of the ceremony. All are invited to attend. The ceremony will then move to the Oyster Pond parking lot. At Oyster Pond there will be a ceremony for those Lost at Sea and a wreath will be laid in the water. Following that the ceremony will move to the adjacent Korean and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The procession will then proceed to the Civil War Memorial located at Seaview Street and Main Street where Scott Hamilton will recite the Gettysburg Address. Sarah Marchio will then lead the participants back to Veterans Circle playing a Civil War period tune on bagpipe. The ceremony will conclude at Veterans Circle. Here Scouts will lead in the Pledge of Allegiance and Laura Barabe will sing the National Anthem. We Are the Men, an all male vocal choir, will perform “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “The Navy Hymn.” The ceremony will conclude with Sarah Marchio playing Amazing Grace on bagpipe. After the Memorial Day Ceremony concludes, there will be a World War II Memorial Dedication Ceremony at the adjacent Nickerson Park where the unveiling of the newly placed Memorial stone will occur. The guest speaker for this event will be Coast Guard Captain John T. Kondratowicz, the Commander of Sector Southeastern New England, an area that includes Rhode Island, southeast Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. We Are the Men, a vocal choir, will perform Mansions of the Lord. All are invited to attend. In the event of inclement weather the Memorial Day Ceremony will be held in the Community Center beginning at 10 a.m.
The town of Harwich Memorial Day ceremony takes place Monday, May 25, at 9:40 a.m. at Brooks Park in Harwich Center. Music is by the Harwich Town Band.
Brewster VFW Post 9917 will hold a flag raising ceremony on Monday May 25, at the EPOCH Nursing center at 9 a.m. At noon, participants will assemble at the Brewster Baptist Church parking lot for a parade starting at 12:30 p.m. that travels along Route 6A to the Council on Aging building where the Memorial Day ceremony will be held. An open house will be held at VFW Post 9917 at 989 Freeman’s Way (opposite Captains Golf Course) following the ceremony. In the event of inclement weather the parade will be cancelled and the ceremony will be held at VFW Post 9917 at 1 p.m.
In Orleans, there will be a Memorial Day Rememberance at the Town Landing on Cove Road at 9:30 am and 10 am at the War Memorials at Route 28 and Main Street.
In Eastham, the Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday, May 25, is at 9 a.m. at the Windmill Green across from Town Hall. The ceremony commemorating the veterans of Eastham will be led by master of ceremonies Dave Schropfer. Participants are asked to assemble at 8:45 a.m.
In Wellfleet, American Legion Post 287 will hold a ceremony on the front and side of Town Hall lawn on Monday, May 25, beginning at 9 a.m.
In Provincetown, the Memorial Day ceremony begins at the Provincetown Cemetery at 10 a.m. and continues at 11 a.m. at the Doughboy Monument in front of Town Hall.
