Memorial Day Weekend 2024: Events, Parades Around Oyster Bay

OYSTER BAY, NY — Oyster Bay's upcoming Memorial Day parade and ceremonies are part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The annual Oyster Bay Memorial Day parade kicks off at 10:30 a.m.

It will be followed by an open house at Raynham Hall Museum starting at 11:30 a.m., during which local veterans, youth organizations, and Raynham Hall educators dressed in Revolutionary clothing will remember the fallen. Also enjoy free Augmented Reality demonstrations in the museum’s education center, hear patriotic singers, make crafts, face painting for the kids, play historic games on the lawn, and enjoy space for picnicking in the garden.

The oldest Memorial Day parade on Long Island is in Hempstead. This Sunday will be the village's 139th annual parade.

Some of the other nearby parades and activities:

• Locust Valley
• Glen Cove
• Port Washington
• Farmingdale
• Rockville Centre
• New York City
• Huntington
• Wantagh
• Long Beach

For fun, there's the annual Memorial Weekend Carnival at the Huntington YMCA, scheduled for Friday to Monday.

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

The history of 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 amid 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, New York, 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.