Memorial Day Weekend 2023: Events, Parades In Yorktown, Somers

YORKTOWN-SOMERS, NY — The upcoming Memorial Day parades in Yorktown and Somers are part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The Somers Memorial Day 2023 Parade & Commemoration Ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 29. Parade assembly is at Somers Middle School from 9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. The parade proceeds to Ivandell Cemetery, where at 10 a.m. there will be a ceremony at the Somers Veterans Memorial, Route 202.

The Yorktown parade will start at 11 a.m. Monday, May 29 at Town Hall and travel down Underhill Avenue, continue onto Commerce Street, follow to Yorktown Fire House, make a left and stay on Commerce Street, and make a right onto Veterans Road. The parade will end at the Jack DeVito Veterans Memorial Field.

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

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer in and around Yorktown and Somers. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• Rye: Playland Park is open for the season as of May 20.
• Croton-on-Hudson: Croton Point Beach pre-season begins May 27.
• New Rochelle: Glen Island Beach pre-season begins May 27.
• Westchester County: Golf courses are open. For more information, go here.
• Stormville: Stormville Airport Flea Market, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 27 and Sunday, May 28, Stormville Airport.
• Fishkill: SplashDown Beach’s Opening Weekend, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Monday, May 27-29, Fishkill.

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.