Towns to commemorate Memorial Day

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Randy Donnelly of the Volunteer Fire Department of Prospect stands at attention by the grave of a veteran in the Prospect Cemetery as Taps is played during a ceremony on Memorial Day last year. –FILE PHOTO
Randy Donnelly of the Volunteer Fire Department of Prospect stands at attention by the grave of a veteran in the Prospect Cemetery as Taps is played during a ceremony on Memorial Day last year. –FILE PHOTO

Naugatuck, Prospect and Beacon Falls will honor Memorial Day this weekend.

The ceremonies will begin in Naugatuck on Monday at 8 a.m. with a Memorial Day Remembrance Mass in St. James Cemetery on Cross Street. The mass will be hosted by the Naugatuck Knights of Columbus and Catholic War Veterans. The Knights have been holding the mass for over 50 years.

The public is welcome. In the event of rain, the mass will be held at St. Vincent Ferrer Church, 1006 New Haven Road.

The borough’s annual Memorial Day parade will follow.

The parade will step off, rain or shine, at 9:15 a.m. on North Main Street. World War II Navy veteran and Naugatuck native Charles Roland will be the parade’s grand marshal.

Marching units in division 1 through 4 will assemble at 8:45 a.m. on North Main Street in the area of Union and Woodbine streets. Units in divisions 5 and 6 — middle- and elementary-school age athletic groups — as well as all karate and dance groups will assemble in the parking lot of St. Mary’s Church, 338 North Main St. These groups will join the parade as it passes the parking area.

The 142 Medical Company, Connecticut National Guard, will lead the parade’s military contingents. Joining them will be marching units from the 395th Supply and Service Company and the 439th Quartermaster Battalion.

The parade heads downtown to Town Hall on Church Street for a ceremony.

Veterans Council Chairman John Debisschop urged all groups to take part in the parade. He asked that all parade units carry signs or banners identifying their organizations.

For more information, call Kathleen Doback at (203) 729-3100.

Prospect’s annual Memorial Day parade will begin at 1 p.m. sharp on Monday on the Town Green.

The parade heads past Town Hall, north on Route 69, turns left onto Old Schoolhouse Road and left onto Route 68. The parade then goes in the Prospect Cemetery where the American Legion Post 194 will hold a brief ceremony, including a wreath laying and the names of all the veterans who passed away this year will be read.

The ceremony will also feature music by the St. Peter’s Drum Corps from Torrington, The Mattatuck Drum Band from Waterbury and the Police Pipes and Drums of Waterbury.

Mayor Robert Chatfield said he will be on the green from 12 p.m. until the start of the parade. Those who want to participate in the parade can see him to be placed in the procession.

Beacon Falls will mark Memorial Day through church services and ceremonies on Sunday.

American Legion Post 25 and Beacon Hose Company No. 1 will each host a ceremony.

Beacon Hose will conduct a Memorial Day ceremony at 10 a.m. outside of the firehouse along with representatives of the Post.  

Post 25 members will also attend services at the Congregational Church at 10 a.m. and at St. Michael’s Church at 11 a.m.

From there the American Legion will assemble at Veterans Park at 12:30 p.m. along with local and state dignitaries for a ceremony commemorating Memorial Day.