Memorial Day 2023 Guide: NJ Parades, Commemorations

NEW JERSEY — With both lively parades and solemn remembrances, New Jersey is preparing to honor those who lost their lives in service to their country on Memorial Day.

Many residents around the Garden State line up for patriotic parades, or lay wreaths and flowers for veterans on Memorial Day weekend, which is May 27-29 this year.

Patch reporters across the state have been gathering dates and times for these events, and we have compiled them in a list below. Linked articles will have more information about local events, and also about other commemorations in nearby towns and ways to celebrate the holiday.

Atlantic

Egg Harbor Township's 2023 Memorial Day parade is Monday, May 29 at 9 a.m., traveling down Ocean Heights Avenue to Veteran's Memorial Park.

Bergen

Community members, veterans, and officials in Mahwah, Fair Lawn, and Wyckoff are all holding parades, with a ceremony also scheduled in Teaneck.

Burlington

Moorestown hosts its ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday in Memorial Park. Cinnaminson has a service scheduled at 5 p.m. May 26 in front of the Municipal Building.

Camden

Haddon Township’s Westmont Fire Company No. 1 is holding a service from 10-11 a.m. Memorial Day, and Haddon Heights has several ceremonies scheduled around a parade procession at 10:30 a.m.

Cherry Hill’s ceremony is at 10 a.m. May 29 at the Town Hall War Memorial. Commemorations in Gloucester Twp. are happening at eight veteran memorials around the township, culminating with a service at Veterans Memorial Park at 11 a.m. on Memorial Day.

Cape May

Cape May City kicks off the weekend with a free concert on the beach Friday at 8 p.m. The city and local veteran groups will have a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday at 11 a.m., at Soldiers and Sailors Park.

Essex

The 102nd Nutley Memorial Day Parade has its opening ceremonies beginning at the Park Oval at 11 a.m. Monday, following remembrance ceremonies for fallen soldiers and for firefighters. The Nutley Historical Society is also sponsoring a walking tour on Sunday.

Six communities in the Caldwells area are sponsoring the 2023 West Essex Memorial Day Parade and kids' bike contest on Monday. Millburn has a parade scheduled Monday at 11 a.m., kicking off from the high school.

Montclair is also hosting a memorial service at 10 a.m. Monday in Edgemont Park.

The Archdiocese of Newark will also honor America's fallen heroes with Memorial Day Masses at several of its Catholic cemeteries in North Jersey — click here for more information.

Gloucester

Glassboro will hold its Memorial Day parade on Monday from 10 a.m. to noon. A solemn ceremony will follow at Town Square Veteran's Memorial Plaza.

Hudson

Hoboken holds its Memorial Day parade on Wednesday, May 24, stepping off from City Hall at 6:30 p.m.

Middlesex

Edison and Metuchen both have parades scheduled for the weekend.

In South Brunswick, American Legion Post 401 hosts its annual service Monday at 11 a.m. on their grounds in Monmouth Junction. North Brunswick’s ceremony is also Monday beginning at 11 a.m. at Veterans Park.

East Brunswick has a Memorial Day observance on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Veterans Park.

Mercer

Parades in Lawrence Township, Princeton, and Hightstown highlight events for the weekend.

Monmouth

Marlboro and Colts Neck have a memorial service and parade scheduled respectively for May 29. Middletown’s parade is Monday, as well. Services or parades are also scheduled in these Patch towns:

• Manalapan: Ceremony outside of Town Hall on May 29 at 11 a.m.
• Freehold: The 149th Freehold Memorial Day Parade begins at 9:45 a.m. Monday.
• Wall: Ceremony Monday from 10-11 a.m. at the Gen. Harry Rockafeller Memorial (Municipal Complex).
• Howell and Farmingdale: Howell Township Memorial Post 9691 Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary will hold Memorial Day services with Farmingdale American Legion Post 178 on Monday, at 11 a.m. at Soldiers Field, Howell and at Farmingdale at Lutz Park at Main Street and Asbury Avenue at 11:30 a.m.
• Holmdel, Hazlet: Both townships have memorial services scheduled Monday morning.
• Rumson, Fair Haven: Both have Memorial Day parades Monday.
• Red Bank, Shrewsbury: Both have observances scheduled Monday.

Morris

Long Valley will have a ceremony, held Monday at "Rock Spring Park's War Memorial Site.”

Chatham has a memorial day service scheduled Monday morning at Memorial Park.

A parade in Parsippany and Troy Hills kicks off Monday at noon on North Beverwyck Road.
Mendham and Chester have services scheduled, as well.

Morris Plains has a parade scheduled Saturday to kick off Memorial Day weekend, and the Memorial and Veterans Day Association of Morristown and Morris Township will hold a service Monday.

Ocean

There are a number of parades and celebrations throughout the weekend in these Ocean County communities, including the annual Blessing of the Fleet and Boat Parade in Berkeley:

• Brick: Parade set for 10 a.m. Monday.
• Toms River: Set to step off at 9:30 a.m. on Memorial Day.
• Manchester: Set for 10 a.m. at World War II Veterans Memorial Park on Monday.
• Point Pleasant: Concerts on the boardwalk in both Seaside Heights and Point Beach are scheduled for Friday. There is a bicycle parade Saturday morning in Point Pleasant Beach, and the Borough will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at noon Monday. A children’s patriotic bicycle parade in Point Pleasant Borough begins at 11:30 a.m. around Community Park.
• Lakewood: Parade follows a flag-raising ceremony at Town Square, which begins at 11 a.m. Monday.
• Lacey: Kicks off at 10 a.m. on May 29 at Lacey United Methodist Church.
• Berkeley: The Berkeley Shores Civic Association Annual Blessing of the Fleet, Boat Parade and Memorial Day Commemoration is at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday. Viewers may gather in the Amherst Inlet where the boats start, or on Amherst Beach.

Ocean City and Manahawkin also have services scheduled on the weekend to remember those who died serving the U.S.

Passaic

A procession in Wayne kicks off at 10 a.m. on Monday, beginning at the Ramapo Shopping Plaza the corner of Valley Road and Hamburg Turnpike. It ends at Wayne Valley Municipal Building.

Somerset

A parade in Bernards Township is scheduled for Monday.

The Hillsborough community has its annual Salute to Veterans Breakfast, parade, and Garden of Honor Commemoration Program on Saturday, with the parade beginning at 10 a.m.

Union

Westfield will come together for a ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday in Memorial Plaza, before a parade procession down East Broad Street.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.