Municipal Spotlight - 154th Memorial Day Ceremony Scheduled for May 18

Municipal Spotlight

154th Memorial Day Ceremony Scheduled for May 18 

By KEN HAMWEY,
Bulletin Staff Writer

Bellingham’s 154th Memorial Day ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 18, starting  with a parade that will begin at 1 p.m. at the Memorial School.

Both the parade and the ceremony at the Town Common will focus on the holiday’s theme — the significant anniversaries of major military engagements that included Bellingham residents during the last 250 years. They include the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington; the 250th birthdays of the Army, Marine Corps and Navy; the 80th anniversary of VE and VJ Day; the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean Conflict; the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon; and the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Bellingham War Memorial at the Town Common.

The keynote speaker and grand marshal had yet to be determined at the Bulletin’s deadline. 

The parade route will start at the Memorial School and continue along Route 126 to Bellingham center. Jim Hastings, the chairman of the Memorial and Veterans Day Committee, is requesting that parade participants refrain from parking at the school’s lot. “It will help if people are dropped off so there’ll be room for parade participants to line up and form the marching order,’’ he said.

Those marching in the parade include the Army and Marine Color Guards, the Bellingham High School Band, the Bellingham Memorial School Band, the Blackstone-Millville Middle School Band, the Assabet Valley Marine Corps Junior ROTC, the Henry Knox Color Guard, Mass. State Police Pipe and Drum Band, military vehicles from the Plymouth area, the Old Colony Bagpipe Band, and the Douglas High School Band.

Also, the Colonial Navy Fife and Drum Corps of Fall River, Greater Rhode Island Fire Pipe Band, the Bellingham Library staff, members of Bellingham’s Police and Fire Departments, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Bellingham High student-athletes, Bellingham youth football and cheerleaders, Thanks to Yanks, and Milford veterans will participate. 

Floats in the parade will include the Bellingham DPW, Milford veterans, the Bellingham Women of Today, the Bellingham Senior Center, the Bellingham VFW and its Auxiliary. Also, a dozen classic cars and trucks, PJ’s Smokehouse, Chevy’s Ice Cream, Bellingham Parts Plus, Charron Tree Service and a town officials float.

Lori Fafard, retired educator and member of the Memorial and Veterans Day Committee, and Bellingham Memorial School library aid, Sheila Elliot, have worked with Grade 4 students during their library classes in April and May to prepare them for marching in the parade.

Fafard and Elliot read books to the students about Memorial Day and taught them about veterans in the armed forces. Books that are read will be donated to the Memorial School’s library by the Veterans Committee, which welcomes the students to march in the parade.

The ceremony at the common will begin at 2 p.m. with a wreath-laying to honor Bellingham servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. A prayer will be offered at the War Memorial near the Route 140 entrance.

An invocation will start the program at the gazebo followed by the National Anthem (sung by Joe and Robbie Oliver), and the Pledge of Allegiance. A reading of the “Gettysburg Address” will follow the pledge.

Hastings, who was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam, will deliver opening remarks that will focus on the solemn nature of the holiday.

“Memorial Day is a time to pause and honor the memory of our servicemen and women for protecting us,’’ Hastings said. “If it weren’t for those who made the ultimate sacrifice, we’d be living in a different type of United States. They’re the ones who’ve enabled us to enjoy the freedoms we have today.’’

The ceremony will continue with the reading of the names of Bellingham veterans who passed away during the last year. 

Closing ceremonies will include the reading of names by Bellingham High students of all Bellingham residents who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service to their country during the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. After all the names are read, the 191-year-old bell at the nearby First Baptist Church will be rung. 

The Old Colony Bagpipe Band will perform “Amazing Grace” followed by a rifle volley, Taps and a closing prayer.

The Memorial and Veterans Day Committee encourages those attending the parade to remain for the ceremony at the Town Common.

“The purpose of the holiday is to honor the memory of all servicemen and women who gave their lives while serving their country and their community,’’ Hastings emphasized. “It’s a solemn time to remember their sacrifices.’’

At the conclusion of the ceremony, transportation to the Memorial School will be provided by Vendetti Bus Company, which will be located across from the Town Common.