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Community Corner

Parade, Services Highlight Memorial Day Weekend

Annual parade begins at 11 a.m., will follow traditional route.

Honor and tradition will once again be on display in the city as organizers gear up for the annual Memorial Day festivities this weekend.

As in years past, the memorial celebrations will begin Friday, with a flag presentation ceremony at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in South Peabody. Veterans will place flags on the graves of those who lost their lives in the line of duty at 9 a.m. 

A Memorial Day service will take place Sunday at St. Adelaide’s Church, beginning at 8 a.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring two small American flags and accompanying flag stands. The stands may be placed either in the church sanctuary or on the left and right sides of the altar. Veterans will carry the flags in to the church at the start of the 8:30 Mass and place the flags in the stands.

Following the Mass, city organizers will hold memorial services at the on Johnson Street, the Oak Grove Cemetery off of Pine Street, the Civil War monument in Peabody Square and the Revolutionary War monument on Washington Street. Each service will include a rifle salute and Taps.

On Memorial Day itself, VFW members will march into Cedar Grove Cemetery and form for a 9:30 ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Park where commanders will read the names of veterans who have passed away in the last year. Participants will meet at the VFW and board an 8:30 a.m. bus to the Cemetery. They will form at 9 a.m. on Cedar Grove Avenue.

The historic Peabody Memorial Day Parade will cap off the festivities, stepping off from Allens Lane at 11 a.m. The parade will follow the same route it has in years past, departing from Allens Lane onto Washington Street and then to Main Street, ending up in front of City Hall where a special ceremony will take place in front of the WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam war monuments.

Marchers in the parade will form at 10:30 a.m. at the place of their assignment, either Allens Lane, Washington Street, Wheeler Street, Hingston Street and Hourihan Street.

Motorists should be advised that the parade route will be closed to traffic at least a half hour prior to the step off of the parade.

The parade will feature members of the local VFW as well as other veterans from the city. This year’s host organization is the Jewish War Veterans North post 220.

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