How Stoneham Will Observe Memorial Day 2020

STONEHAM, MA – There will not be a live Memorial Day Parade in Stoneham this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and state regulations on public gatherings, the Memorial Day Parade Committee announced Friday.

"While the committee is saddened by the cancellation," Maureen Buckley, chair of the Committee, said, "this decision was made, with input from our public safety officials, in the best interest of the community. It will protect the health and safety of our residents who would have attended the parade and ceremony at Town Hall, given the likelihood of hundreds of spectators along the parade route."

Other Commemoration Efforts

The Town of Stoneham will still commemorate in other ways the memory of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Grave Decoration with Flags

The town will still be placing flags on veterans’ graves in Lindenwood Cemetery, the Old Burying Ground and St. Patrick’s Cemetery. This will be starting the week before Memorial Day (May 25th, 2020). This process will take place over several days and throughout the weekend. Once completed, if you are missing a flag on your loved one’s grave, contact stonehamveterans@gmail.com. This will take place with a limited number of volunteers this year, given the need to maintain social distancing practices.

Procession and Taps on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, the Parade committee will be traveling in a small procession escorted by the Police to a number of locations throughout the town. At each location, there will be a reading of the names of Stoneham veterans who passed away in the past year, a flag-raising or wreath placement where appropriate, and Taps will be played. The large number of locations is to allow residents to hear Taps in various parts of town without traveling to a central location. In addition to the cemeteries visited annually by the parade and veterans’ monuments at Town Hall, the procession will also visit the Old Burying Ground, which contains the Revolutionary War veterans; two nursing homes with large veteran populations; the three elementary schools; the high school; the Boys & Girls Club, which hosts a WWII memorial and the Hall Pool, which commemorates Stoneham’s Medal of Honor awardee. Due to safety concerns, the Town is asking that people not gather at the actual locations, but to listen for Taps outside when we are at a location near their homes. The set of 12 locations is listed below, with tentative times of arrival at each location. Each ceremony will be roughly 3-5 minutes with travel time between the locations included. Additional estimates may be announced on the website and Facebook prior to Memorial Day, along with a robocall from the Town.

1. 10:45, St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Elm Street Entrance
2. 11:00, Bear Hill Nursing Home
3. 11:10, Robin Hood School
4. 11:20, Lindenwood Cemetery, Soldier’s Monument
5. 11:30, Old Burying Ground, McColgan Square, Pleasant and William Streets
6. 11:40, Boys & Girls Club, World War II Memorial Plaque
7. 11:50, Stoneham High School
8. 12:00, Colonial Park School
9. 12:15, Life Care Center, Pond St.
10. 12:30, Hall Memorial Pool, South Border Road
11. 12:40, South School
12. 12:50 Town Hall, Veterans’ Monuments

Virtual Parade

In addition, we are planning a "virtual" parade of highlights from past years. If you have photos of past parades that you would like to contribute, they can be sent to Stonehamveterans@gmail.com (please note in the subject line that these are parade photos) no later than May 22. If you have a large number of photos, please contact the committee before sending them.

Town-wide patriotic decorating efforts.

This year in lieu of gathering for the parade, the Committee would like to encourage residents to revive the original spirit of “Decoration Day” and decorate their houses and yards with patriotic decorations. Get out your red, white and blue.

Many families consider Memorial Day to be a very special holiday because they can talk about their fallen family members and visit soldiers' grave sites as a tradition. Consider decorating with a personalized keepsake to represent and memorialize the fallen soldiers from your own family.