December 22, 2024
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Memorial Day Events

Augusta

The state plans two Memorial Day events in the capital area. A flag raising will be held at noon Monday, May 26, at the Civic Center Drive Cemetery.

AMVETS will serve as host of the traditional Memorial Day service at 2 p.m. Monday, May 26, at the Mount Vernon Road Cemetery.

Bangor

Sunday: The annual visit by Daniel Chaplin Camp No. 3 of Bangor, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, will be at Mount Hope Cemetery at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 25. The group will honor the eight Civil War generals buried there, as well as Hannibal Hamlin, who served as vice president during Abraham Lincoln’s first term as president.

Members will present honors at the Civil War soldiers and sailors plot; the citizens’ memorial, which is the nation’s first public Civil War monument; and the 2nd Maine Infantry memorial.

Members are asked to meet next to the superintendent’s office near the State Street entrance to Mount Hope Cemetery. The public is invited to attend.

For information, call Eric Boothroyd at 277-3947.

Monday: The Memorial Day parade forms at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 26, at Kenduskeag Plaza and will begin at 10:30 a.m., continuing through downtown to Davenport Park for laying of wreaths at the USS Maine memorial.

A tribute to entertainer Bob Hope and honors and entertainment for veterans will be held after the parade at the Maine State World War II monument at the Cole Land Transportation Museum.

Veterans of all wars will raise their walking sticks in honor of Hope during the parade.

During the day, veterans of all ages will be asked to sign a 100th birthday card for Hope. Veterans will raise their walking sticks again while the card is read aloud at the reviewing stand at Davenport Park. A photo will be taken and included with the card. Hope’s daughter has promised to make sure he receives the card on his May 29 birthday.

Sen. Susan Collins will deliver the keynote speech at a program in honor of American patriots at 1:30 p.m. The American Spirit Team of United Technologies Center will present its national award-winning tribute to the flag.

Brewer

Isaac Clewley Post 4917 Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold ceremonies on Monday, May 26, at the following cemeteries: 10 a.m., Oak Hill; 11 a.m., Woodlawn; noon, North Brewer. All ceremonies will include wreaths, playing of taps, rifle salute and prayer.

Carmel

The Memorial Day parade will begin at 11 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the Carmel Elementary School and continue through the Village Cemetery. Services will be held by American Legion Post 107.

The Hermon High School band will provide the music, and Burt Williams, pastor of Carmel Union Congregational Church, will be the guest speaker.

Ceremonies will be held inside Carmel Elementary School if it rains.

Charlotte

The Charlotte Historical Society will hold a Memorial Day Service at 8:15 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the Round Pond Cemetery. Brunch will be served at the Town Hall following the ceremony.

Dexter

The Memorial Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 26, in the municipal parking lot behind Bangor Savings Bank. Services will be led by the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars to honor deceased veterans at Memorial Park. There will be musical selections by the Dexter Regional High School band.

Ellsworth

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 26, on State Street, forming in the Moore School and Knowlton School parking lots.

The parade will proceed from the schools southbound to School Street and turn right onto Main Street. Participants will march down Main Street to the Union River Bridge, where the Veterans of Foreign Wars will perform a wreath ceremony. The parade will then continue up State Street and end on the City Hall lawn.

The Union River Bridge will be closed during the wreath ceremony. Drivers who want to travel to the west side of the bridge should use Water Street, and to get to the west side of town should use the Christian Ridge Road.

No motor vehicle traffic will be allowed on Main Street between High and Water streets during the parade. Main Street is expected to reopen by 11 a.m.

Etna

The Memorial Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 26, starting at the corner of Routes 69 and 143. Services will be held at the Etna-Dixmont School with music performed by the Etna-Dixmont School Band. The guest speaker will be Burt Williams, pastor of the Carmel Union Congregational Church.

Fort Kent

Sunday: Ceremonies will begin at 7 a.m. Sunday, May 25, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall. Participants will leave the hall at 7:30 a.m. for a short military honors ceremony at the Daigle and Wallagrass cemeteries.

A 9 a.m. Mass will be celebrated at Soldier Pond. Morning exercises will conclude with military honors at the cemetery and bridge.

Parade participants will reassemble at noon at Martin Ford for a parade and military honors ceremonies at six sites. The parade will start at 1 p.m. and end at the Fort Kent Community High School.

The 836th Squadron Royal Canadian Air Cadets Band of Clair, New Brunswick, will participate in the parade, as well as the Fort Kent Community High School band and more than 30 organizations, floats and other entries.

Veterans of all wars are invited to join the parade. Cars will be provided for veterans who are unable to march.

For information call Irvin Roy at 834-5862.

Hampden

Memorial Day observances will begin with a service by Veterans of Foreign Wars post and auxiliary members at 8:30 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the monument at the Post Home on the Canoe Club Road.

A parade will begin there at 9 a.m., proceeding to the monument at Locust Grove Cemetery.

Marchers will include the Hampden Academy band; Girl Scouts, Brownies and Daisies; Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts; Little League and VFW post and auxiliary members. Parade participants should be at the post home by 8:45 a.m.

At the cemetery, Richard Newcomb will give the Memorial Day address. Two Reeds Brook Middle School students will recite “Gen. Logan’s Orders” and the Gettysburg Address.

The VFW will hold a ritual memorial service with members of the post and auxiliary offering a floral tribute and laying a wreath.

A ceremony will then be held at the British Cemetery across the street.

Hartland

The Steeves-McCormack American Legion Post 141 will hold a parade and ceremonies starting at 9 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the Tannery Annex.

The parade will stop at the cemetery and Pittsfield Avenue Square for taps and an honor guard. A wreath will be laid and the flag raised at Warren Square.

Howland

A Civil War re-enactment group will lead off Memorial Day events Sunday, May 25, at the minipark, and the group will camp there overnight.

Breakfast will be served at 6:30 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the Legion Hall in Howland. The Levielle Shorey Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and the Lincoln Knights of Columbus will participate.

The parade starts at 11:45 a.m. Food will be served at the minipark following the event.

The Howland American Legion will hold services at several cemeteries throughout the day, beginning at 8 a.m. at Seboeis.

Services will be held at cemeteries in West Enfield at 8:30 a.m., Passadumkeag at 8:50 a.m., Gould Ridge at 9:10 a.m., Lowell at 9:40 a.m., Enfield at 10:05 a.m., Dodlin Road at 10:25 a.m., Edinburg at 10:45 a.m. and Howland at 11 a.m.

Lee

The Thurlow-Cushman American Legion Auxiliary will form a parade at 9 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the Lee Academy gymnasium. All groups and veterans are invited to march.

Call Susan Oliver at 738-3533 or Gail Rae at 738-5014 for information.

Northeast Harbor

American Legion Post 103 will sponsor a parade to be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 26, starting at the Northeast Harbor Elementary School and proceeding down Main Street to the marina.

The Mount Desert Island High School band and the elementary school band will participate.

Caspar Weinberger, former U.S. secretary of defense, will be the keynote speaker after the parade, appearing at the marina.

For more information, call 276-3326.

Otis

Tuesday: The annual Beech Hill School Memorial Day parade will begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, at the Beech Hill School on Route 180.

The school’s sixth-graders will be hosts of this year’s parade. The theme is “Honoring our Heroes.”

Prospect

Sunday: A memorial service is planned Sunday for a Waldo County man who served in the American Revolution.

The U.S. government has issued a marble stone for Archelaus Harding (1740-1829), and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will present a 13-star flag to the Harding family and play taps. The stone will be placed in the family cemetery on Bowden Point Road.

The service will be at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 25, at the cemetery and the family homestead across the road.

Rockport

Junior Girl Scout Troop 2332 will sponsor a Memorial Day ceremony to honor veterans and rededicate the Victory Grove at Aldermere Farm.

The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. Monday, May 26. Visitors may park along Russell Avenue, and parking for the handicapped or elderly will be available.

The grove is a stand of red pines planted in 1919 in honor of World War I veterans.

St. Albans

The Memorial Day parade, hosted by the Steeves-McCormack American Legion Post 141, will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 26, at Ace Hardware.

The parade will stop on Cemetery Road for the playing of taps and an honor guard, then will continue up Main Street to the monument for the laying of a wreath and raising of colors.

Togus

There will be a Memorial Day public observance at 7:45 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the Togus National Cemetery.

Local veterans’ organizations, the Maine National Guard and Togus employees will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony.

More than 5,000 veterans have been buried at the Togus National Cemetery since its opening in 1867.

Winterport

The Memorial Day parade, conducted by the American Legion Argonne Post, will form at 10:45 a.m. Monday, May 26, at the Smith School. Marchers will proceed to Memorial Library at 11 a.m. for a short service and then to the Civil War monument in Oak Hill Cemetery for a memorial program.

State Rep. Jeff Kaelin, R-Winterport, will speak. The Hampden Academy band will provide music.

Carnations will be available to place on the monument in honor of deceased veterans.

For information call Gary Crossman at 223-4480.


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