Towns to commemorate Memorial Day

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Naugatuck’s annual Memorial Day parade steps off at 9:15 a.m. on Monday. –FILE PHOTO
Naugatuck’s annual Memorial Day parade steps off at 9:15 a.m. on Monday. –FILE PHOTO

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

Naugatuck’s annual Memorial Day parade will step off, rain or shine, at 9:15 a.m. on North Main Street. World War II Navy veteran Jules Andes Brinchman is the parade’s grand marshal.

Marching units in divisions 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 elements of the Second Battalion, 98th Division and the 325th Military Intelligence Battalion, along with elements of two re-enactment groups: The 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment (Union) and The First Maryland Infantry Regiment (Confederate).

The parade will be highlighted by a fly-over by F-15 fighter planes of the 104th Fighter Wing and guided over Church Street by Naugatuck native and radio controller, retired Senior Master Sgt. Robert Tuckey. Naugatuck resident Maj. Matthew Woodfield will be piloting one of the fighters in the fly-over.

Also highlighted in the parade will be an M-551 Sheridan tank that saw extensive combat action during the Vietnam War.

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

Naugatuck 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 on Center Street.

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 into Prospect Cemetery where American Legion Post 194 will hold a brief ceremony, including a wreath laying. The names of all the veterans who passed away this year will also be read.

The Knights of Columbus will be carrying the town’s 20-by-30 foot flag during parade.
Mayor Robert Chatfield said anybody who wants to participate needs be in front of the Grange on Center Street between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m.

“In keeping with the tradition that has been going on since the 1940s, the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ will be recited during the end of ceremony,” Chatfield said.

This year the poem, which was written in 1915 by Lt. Col. John McCrae, will be read by Community School fifth-grader Anna Nichols.

“If it’s a beautiful day I’d like to see the whole town out there to remember those that have passed and to show support of those that are fighting now,” Chatfield said.

In case of rain the ceremony will be held in St. Anthony’s Church at 1 p.m.

Beacon Falls will mark Memorial Day 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. The firehouse invites all veterans to attend.

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.