SOMERVILLE - It's the biggest weekend of the year in Somerville.
With the Tour of Somerville, the country's longest running bicycle race, capping Memorial Day weekend on Monday, Somerville is getting ready for a series of events starting on Thursday to mark the traditional beginning of summer in the county seat.
Memorial Day parade
The Memorial Day parade, another Somerville tradition, is returning this year with a new time and route so it will not interfere with Tour of Somerville races.
“In January I made a promise, and now we are returning the Somerville Memorial Day Parade to the streets of our borough,” said Mayor Brian Gallagher. “We will proudly display true honor to those who have sacrificed for our country.”
The parade will start at 8:15 a.m. Monday at the corner of Culver and East High streets, then march west on High Street, then turn left on Doughty Avenue past the Somerville Fire Museum, turn left again on Main Street, and turn right on Bridge Street to the Somerville New Cemetery for a 10 a.m. ceremony at the cemetery's Veterans Circle.
Families participating in the Tour of Somerville's Family Fun Ride may join the parade as it continues on Bridge Street to the cemetery.
Cruise Nights
Another Somerville tradition will be returning, as Cruise Nights begin on Main Street from 6 to 9 p.m.
For more than three decades, thousands have come to downtown Somerville on Friday nights from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends for what organizers say is the largest cruise night on the East Coast as classic vehicles line the street.
Legal Runaround 5K
The weekend starts 7 p.m. Thursday with the annual Legal Runaround 5K sponsored by the Somerset County Bar Foundation to benefit Steps Together, a Hillsborough nonprofit that supports Somerset County families facing medical crises.
The Legal Runaround also has children's races at 6:15 p.m. and a 3K Poker Walk at 6:25 p.m.
Registration can either be done online or in-person starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Veteran's Memorial Plaza on Grove Street between the county administration building and county jail. Both events will go through residential neighborhoods.
Summer Stage
Saturday starting at 6 p.m. is the first performance of Downtown Somerville's Summer Stage concert series on Division Street.
The first concert will feature the Tyrone Stackhouse Project.
The series will continue on Friday or Saturday evenings until Sept. 14.
Nationwide Ride for Freedom
At about noon Sunday, more than 350 veterans will pass through Somerville on motorcycles, SUVs, trailers and cars as part of Rolling Thunder's Nationwide Ride for Freedom to raise awareness of missing or unaccounted for American military personnel.
The procession will leave Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg at noon and take about one hour to pass through Somerville, from Route 22 to Mountain Avenue, then on West End Avenue to Main Street to Finderne Avenue in Bridgewater, before ending at Village Elementary School in Montgomery at 100 Main Blvd.
Tour of Somerville
The main event of the Memorial Day Weekend, as it has been for nearly 80 years, is the Tour of Somerville series of bicycle races.The day starts with the Family Fun Run at 8 a.m. which gives everyone a chance to pedal on the 1.1-mile race course through downtown Somerville.
After a break for the Memorial Day parade, the races begin again at 9:25 a.m. for all ages and categories.
The day climaxes at 3 p.m. with the 25-mile Mildred Kugler Women's Profession Race and the 50-mile Kugler-Anderson Memorial Men's Professional Race.
There will also be off-pedal competitions, like TriState Restaurant Group's 4 p.m. lemonade chug, 4:30 p.m. chicken wing eating contest, and 5 p.m. hot dog eating contest in the TriState Restaurant Group Community Zone on East Main Street in front of the Historic Somerset County Courthouse.
The presenting sponsor is Unity Bank with supportive partners Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Somerset, Somerset County, Somerset County Business Partnership, Visit Somerset County, Land Rover Princeton, Clinton Honda, the Somerset Patriots, Downtown Somerville Alliance, Extensis HR, POP’s Bike Shop, Elk’s Club, Vie13 Kustom Apparel and Tito’s Vodka.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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