May 22, 2023
Honoring the men and women who have given their lives to protect and preserve this country while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces is a tradition that has been observed in the Town of New Canaan for decades.
This year’s parade through town and memorial ceremony at Lakeview Cemetery is set for Monday, May 29, beginning with the parade at 9:30 a.m. Shortly after the parade reaches the cemetery, the memorial ceremony will get underway. All New Canaan residents are invited to attend the parade and ceremony.
The ceremony will be officiated by Mike McGlinn, commander of the Howard M. Bossa and Peter C. Langenus Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 653, and will include remarks by New Canaan First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. The invocation and benediction will be delivered by the Rev. Matt Curry, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of New Canaan.
John McLane will serve as grand marshal of this year’s parade, which will start in the parking lot of St. Mark’s Church on Oenoke Ridge Road. The parade will move down Oenoke Ridge to upper Main Street, pass the Wayside Cross, firehouse, and Town Hall before continuing to the entrance of the cemetery.
People participating in the parade can enter the cemetery for the memorial ceremony or disperse on lower Main Street. There will be no street parking on Main Street on Monday from 8 a.m. until the parade ends.
If it rains on Memorial Day, please check here to find out if the parade has been canceled. If the parade is canceled, the memorial ceremony will be moved to Town Hall and will start at 10 a.m. with limited seating available.
Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971. The origins of Memorial Day started shortly after the end of the Civil War in 1865, when people began gathering at local cemeteries in the spring to honor family members who had been killed in the war. Decoration Day, as it was first known, was aptly named because people decorated gravesites with flowers and other items while reciting prayers.
