Memorial Day Parades: What You Need To Know Before You Go

With the weather predicted to be 70 degrees with no chance of rain, Memorial Day promises to be perfect for parades. Both East Lyme and Old Lyme are holding parades today. Here's what you need to know if you're planning to go—and which roads will be closed if you aren't. 

In East Lyme

The Memorial Day Parade sponsored by East Lyme Veterans Council starts at the green next to St. John's Episcopalian Church on Main Street in Niantic (opposite the Children's Museum) at 2 p.m. The parade will progress down Main Street and end up at East Lyme Town Hall on Pennsylvania Avenue. 

There will be no street parking on Main Street after 12 p.m. Columbus Avenue will be closed at 1 p.m.. Other roads along the parade route (Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to Town Hall) will be closed at 1:30 p.m.  

In Old Lyme

Parade participants are asked to report to the fire station no later than 10:30 a.m. for assignment to positions in the line of march which will form on the access road behind the fire station on Lyme Road. The parade will start promptly at 11:00 a.m.

Not on a team or scout troop? Lymes' Youth Services Bureau inviting everyone to join the fun. Kids—decorate your bikes, wagons, scooters, strollers and meet at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of the Middle School tennis courts (behind the large blue/white sign "Lyme-Old Lyme Public Schools") 

The parade starts at 11:00 a.m. led by William V. Appleby, Commander of American Legion Post #41, in a march down Lyme Street to McCurdy Road and on to the Duck River Cemetery for a memorial service.

Invocation and Benediction will be offered by Old Lyme Fire Department Chaplain Mervin Francis Roberts. The winners of an essay contest, “What Memorial Day Means To Me,” will read their essays as part of the cemetery program.

Returning for this year’s celebration are the Lyme and Old Lyme Fire Departments, a rifle squad from the Connecticut National Guard, the Lyme-Old Lyme High School and Middle School Bands along with Deep River Senior Drum Corps and the New London Firefighters Pipes and Drums.  A number of marching units representing local civic groups from Lyme, Old Lyme and Old Saybrook will also participate. 

Following the program, the parade will return to the fire station, where refreshments will be available to all parade participants. The Lyme Academy College of Arts will also host a classic car show sponsored by the Lions Club and LYSB will have a moon bounce and activities for kids there too. 

The Memorial Day observance is sponsored by the Old Lyme Fire Department with financial assistance from the Town of Old Lyme.  

In Lyme

Lyme doesn't usually do much to mark Memorial Day but, as this is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's Battle of Port Hudson and a number of Lyme men were killed and wounded in the siege, Jim Beers will give a brief commemoration at 12:30 p.m. in front of the memorial at Lyme Town Hall.