Memorial Day Weekend 2023: Parades, Services In Yardley

YARDLEY, PA — The upcoming Memorial Day ceremonies in the Yardley area are part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The Yardley Veteran community, borough officials, and local volunteers are supporting the borough’s 2023 Memorial Day events.

Starting at 7 a.m. on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, rifle salutes will be issued at Slate Hill, St. Ignatius, and St. Andrews cemeteries, before the Yardley Borough Hall and at the Lower Makefield Township Veterans monument at 9 a.m.

Observers are invited to attend these short and historical ceremonies. Attendees need only wait at a location for the Honor Guard to pass through or follow the troop convoy leaving from American Legion Post 317.

Official honoring ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. at the Yardley monument (intersection of Afton and Delaware Avenues across from the Yardley Inn. This year’s first guest speaker is U.S. Army retired Lt. Colonel Arthur Jay Hass. The Memorial Day Singer is Marge Swider. Reading Flanders Field is Stephanie Tarantino. A live playing of Taps on the Flugelhorn is by Yardley resident Robbie Oleynick.

The Yardley Main Street parade starts at 11 a.m., and concludes around 1 p.m.

Morrisville

The parade will take place on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, beginning at 9 a.m. from the Presbyterian Church parking lot and conclude on Anderson Avenue with a small ceremony. This year we will have multiple marching bands including, Bag Pipes, The Fife, and Drum of Washington Crossing, Brass band, and our Morrisville High School. Multiple firehouses, emergency services, and community groups from our surrounding area will also be in attendance.

Below are some other Memorial Day weekend parades and services throughout Lower Bucks County:

Langhorne

The 104th Langhorne Memorial Day Parade will be held on May 29 at 9 a.m. starting at the Jesse W. Soby American Legion Post home at 115 West Richardson Avenue. Bands, emergency responders, community organizations, the Boy Scouts, the Langhorne Borough Business Association, and dignitaries from Langhorne Borough, Langhorne Manor Borough, and Middletown Township will be on hand while children can participate in a decorated bike contest.

Northampton Township

• The Northampton Township Board of Supervisors and the Northampton Township Veterans Advisory Commission are inviting residents to come out for a Memorial Day ceremony at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 29. The ceremony is at Robert H. Dembowski Jr. Veterans Memorial Park, right on the corner of Richboro Plaza at Second Street Pike and Newtown-Richboro Road. There will be an 8 a.m. flag-raising ceremony by the Marine Corps League Patriot Detachment at the flag poles in front of the Northampton Township Administrative Building at 55 Township Rd. The ceremony is expected to last 10 minutes.

Bensalem Township

• In Bensalem on Memorial Day, May 29, Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Eddington and Andalusia will lead a parade down Bristol Pike from the Suzuki Fun Center at 2639 Route 13 to Mill Park, the city line with Philadelphia. The parade is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Memorial Day Celebration at Sesame Place

Celebrate Memorial Day Weekend at Sesame Place. Everyone will love the “C is for Celebrate” fireworks show on Sunday, May 28. Don’t miss photos with Elmo dressed in festive red, white, and blue all weekend at photos with Elmo and friends. Click here for a schedule of appearances. The event takes place at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 27, with a fireworks show at 9 p.m. on Sunday, May 28.

Honoring Veterans

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit Yardley area cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

Memorial Day History

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

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.

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.