Stoneham Memorial Day 2021: Short Procession, Other Rememberances

STONEHAM, MA — There will be a short procession to veterans' memorials around town this Memorial Day.

The Stoneham Memorial Day Parade Committee will be honoring veterans at the stops. Residents will be able to watch live or recorded on television.

The changes to state regulations did not come in time to bring back the traditional parade, but it will return next year.

"The committee is looking forward to returning with a full parade next year,” Committee Chair Maureen Buckley said in a release. "The decision to stick with the procession this year was the best option for public safety, given the timing and knowledge that not everyone has been vaccinated yet."

The town will also remember soldiers who gave it all in the following ways:

(From a press release:)

Grave Decoration with Flags

The town Memorial Day Committee will be placing flags on veterans’ graves in Lindenwood Cemetery, the Old Burying Ground and St. Patrick’s Cemetery. This will start the week before Memorial Day (May 31st, 2021) and take place over several days and throughout the weekend. As this is outdoors, the Committee can again use additional volunteers to help place flags and clean up around veterans’ graves. If you are interested in helping, contact Maureen Buckley at stonehamveterans@gmail.com. Once completed, if you are missing a flag on your loved one’s grave, contact the committee and they will place an additional flag.

Luminaries at Town Hall and Lindenwood Cemetery

The Parade committee, with the help of volunteer Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, will be placing luminaries at the Veteran’s Circle and Memorial at Lindenwood and in front of the Town Hall Memorials on Saturday. These commemorate the over 150 souls from Stoneham who lost their lives in War. These will remain through the weekend.

Procession and Taps on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, the Parade committee will be traveling in a procession escorted by the Stoneham 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 the playing of Taps. The procession will start at the Old Burying Ground at Pleasant and William Streets, and then travel to St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Lindenwood Cemetery and the Town Hall Veterans’ Memorials. The route is designed to drive by the town’s nursing homes so that veterans there can see the procession. The full route is available on the Memorial Day/Veteran’s Day Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/memorialdayparadestoneham/

The set of locations is listed below, with tentative times of arrival at each location. Each ceremony will be roughly 5-15 minutes. Check the town website (https://www.stoneham-ma.gov )and Facebook for any changes prior to Memorial Day. While it is not a full parade, it will be larger than last year and include musicians from the Natick Legion band. If you can help decorate for the procession on Monday morning (9 am) or have an antique car that can be decorated and join the procession, contact Maureen Buckley at stonehamveterans@gmail.com or message on Facebook.

Town-wide patriotic decorating efforts.

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. You can also consider using luminaries to honor those who gave their lives for the country.

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

The Origin of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is about honoring our war dead. It originated in the years following the Civil War, when there were countless war dead to honor, Union and Confederate. Gen John Logan issued the orders to decorate the graves of the fallen with flowers in 1868, giving the holiday its original name of Decoration Day. Over time as the United States became involved in additional wars, the day evolved to honor the dead of all American wars. and it was called Memorial Day. It became an official federal holiday in 1971, and the official date was moved from May 30th to the last Monday in May.

Locations of the 2021 Stoneham Memorial Day Procession are below. These times are tentative, please visit the town website or facebook for full details.

1. 10:00 Old Burying Ground, McColgan Square, Pleasant and William Streets

2. 10:20, St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Elm Street Entrance

3. 10:40, Drive through lot at Bear Hill Nursing Home

4. 10:50, Drive through lot at Arnold House

5. 10:55, Lindenwood Cemetery, Soldier’s Monument

6. 11:20 Drive by Hall Memorial Pool, South Border Road

7. 11:25, Drive by Life Care Center, Pond St.

8. 11:35, Drive by The Arbors

9. 11: 40 Drive by Fuller House

10. 11:45 Town Hall, Veterans’ Monuments