Communities to host parades for Memorial Day

EASTERN SUBURBS – Local communities will be holding their annual Memorial Day parades to salute, celebrate and mourn those who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

On Saturday, May 25, the hamlet of Jamesville will be observing Memorial Day with a schedule of activities put on by the Jamesville Chamber of Commerce and the Jamesville Fire Department in conjunction with the Jamesville Community Museum.

Running from the morning to the afternoon, Jamesville’s observance will start with a 9 a.m. memorial service at the fire station located at 6661 E. Seneca Turnpike. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the community museum at 6492 E. Seneca Turnpike will be open with a special military-related display arranged by local historian Greg Titus and other community members.

In between, there will be live musical entertainment courtesy of local band Jamesville Road from 10:30 to 11 a.m. followed by the parade going from South Street onto East Seneca Turnpike from 11 to 11:30 a.m. The parade’s grand marshal will be Lance Baker, the former superintendent for the Jamesville-DeWitt school district.

A ceremony to honor the heroic deceased will then take place at Jamesville Elementary School, and the live music will resume until 1 p.m. at the old fire station in the center of the hamlet with popcorn and cotton candy provided by the fire department.

On Monday, May 27, the Village of Fayetteville will be having its annual parade at 9 a.m. The route proceeds from the intersection of Route 5 and Highbridge Street and stretches east up Route 5/East Genesee Street before turning down New York State Route 257/South Manlius Street and leading into Beard Park, where a brief ceremony honoring fallen military personnel will be held.

Fayetteville’s parade is set to include members of groups like the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, multiple area fire departments, Fayetteville-Manlius school band performers, the village department of public works, and members of the Town of Manlius Police Department, including some of the bike patrol officers. The parade marshal will be former mayor of the village and current 10th District Onondaga County Legislator Mark Olson.

At 11 a.m. on May 27, the Village of Manlius will be holding its Memorial Day parade. With local officials and organization members waving to attendees standing on the sidewalks, it will begin at the corner of New York State routes 173 and 92, and it will continue through the village and down 92 until it ends on Stickley Drive.

There will be a brief ceremony following Manlius’ parade at the Village Centre, located at 1 Arkie Albanese Ave.

Manlius’ parade will coincide with Minoa’s parade paying tribute to the country’s war heroes. The Village of Minoa’s will be hosted in collaboration with American Legion Post 1102, and it is also scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on May 27.

Expected to involve elected Onondaga County, Town of Manlius and village officials as well as the East Syracuse Minoa marching band, Minoa’s parade will start at Lewis Park, and the ceremony will conclude with a gathering and speeches in front of the municipal building at 240 N. Main St.

Directly following Minoa’s parade, Post 1102 will have chicken barbecue dinners available for purchase at the adjoining fire station.

At 1 p.m. the Village of East Syracuse will be holding its yearly parade with veterans, local Town of DeWitt and village officials, a Pop Warner football squad, the ESM High School band, and first responders. It will start near the stoplight where Upton Street connects with Bridge Street, close to the Village Lanes bowling alley.

At the conclusion of the parade, there will be remembrance speeches as people surround the village’s war memorial at the intersection of West Manlius and West Yates streets, where there will be a wreath-laying ceremony. That memorial marker honors those from the village who served in all branches of the military during World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Drew Spoar, the commander of Arthur Butler American Legion Post 359, which organizes the festivities, said their event that day is like the others in the area in that it’s meant to get the whole community together and serve a purpose in recognizing the service members who have sacrificed their lives.

Post 359, located at 135 W. Manlius St, will also have an open house that afternoon of Memorial Day, with anyone and everyone from the public welcome.