Toms River Set For 2025 Memorial Day Parade And Ceremony

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The 91st annual Memorial Day parade will fill downtown Toms River on Monday to honor the members of the United States armed forces who lost their lives in service to the country.

The parade, hosted by George P. Vanderveer American Legion 129, steps off at 9:30 a.m. from Highland Parkway and marches down Main Street to Washington Street.

It finishes at Toms River's Town Hall with a ceremony.

The services are part of a nearly 160-year American tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost in battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com.

As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, N.Y., is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.