WEST HAVEN, CT — (From City of West Haven): After careful consideration and consultation with our veterans groups, the city has decided to move Monday’s Memorial Day Parade start time from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mayor Dorinda Borer announced.
While there is still a possibility of rain at 1 p.m., it is forecast to be lighter rain, lighter wind and warmer for marchers.
We remain committed to honoring the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
We thank you and appreciate everyone’s understanding, flexibility and continued support, and we look forward to coming together as a community to honor our veterans and fallen heroes.
Please note that Campbell Avenue will be closed to traffic starting at 11:30 a.m. Parade participants and marchers should be prepared to line up on Captain Thomas Boulevard by 12:30 p.m.
Vietnam veteran George “Butch” Treat will serve as the parade’s grand marshal.
Treat, a Marine Corps veteran who served a tour of duty in the Vietnam War in 1967-68, will lead the more than 50-unit procession of veterans, dignitaries and bands along the 1 ½-mile parade route, which follows Campbell Avenue from Captain Thomas Boulevard to Center Street.
Treat, 78, of West Haven, is a lifetime member of the American Legion and Disabled Americans Veterans.
The annual event, in memory of the deceased members of the U.S. armed forces of all wars, is the oldest parade of its kind in southern Connecticut.
It will include a flyover by a C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft operated by the Connecticut Air National Guard.
The parade will feature the West Haven High School, Bailey Middle School and Carrigan Intermediate School marching bands, along with the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums, bands from the Rock House School of Music and the Infamous Fusion Drill Team & Drum Line.
In addition to the city’s legion of veterans groups, the procession will also showcase the traditional contingent of youth organizations and sports leagues, dance troupes and Scout troops, fraternal organizations and service clubs, local and state leaders, police officers and firefighters.
After the parade, a wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the World War I Armistice Memorial on the West Haven Green, at Main Street and Campbell Avenue.
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