Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect changes in the time of Naugatuck’s ceremony and how it will be streamed online.
Naugatuck and Prospect have canceled their annual Memorial Day parades due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but officials are planning to hold small ceremonies to observe Memorial Day.
In Naugatuck, members of the Naugatuck Veterans Council will hold small, early-morning services at memorials and cemeteries throughout the borough on Memorial Day, May 25. There will be a small, private ceremony on the Green at 12:30 p.m. that won’t be open to the public. The ceremony will include a few dignitaries, a bugler to play Taps, and City Hill Middle School eighth-grader Amy Morrissey will recite the Gettysburg Address.
Naugatuck Veterans Council Chairman John DeBisschop said the ceremony will be broadcast live via the borough of Naugatuck Facebook page.
In Prospect, officials will hold a brief ceremony on Memorial Day at 1 p.m. on the Green on Center Street. The ceremony will include representatives from American Legion Post 195, VFW Post 8075, Gold Star Mothers and the Prospect Volunteer Fire Department laying wreaths at the monument on the Green.
The ceremony is open to the public. Prospect Mayor Robert Chatfield said those that attend will be asked to maintain social distancing.
“We cannot forget the men and women who gave their lives over the past 244 years,” Chatfield said.
Prospect will also hold a car and truck parade for Memorial Day. The parade starts at 10 a.m. at Prospect Elementary School, 75 New Haven Road, and will head throughout town. Chatfield said the parade will be a solemn one, with no honking or making noise, to observe Memorial Day.
American Legion Post 25 in Beacon Falls will hold a brief ceremony at 10 a.m. Memorial Day at Veterans Park at the corner of North Main Street and Depot Street.
The ceremony will include honoring Post members U.S. Army veteran Gerard Callahan, U.S. Army veteran Frank Mis and U.S. Navy veteran Leonard D’Amico who died since last Memorial Day.
The ceremony is open to the public. Those who attend are asked to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
