Memorial Day Parades
in the Rochester, NY area:
Our 2008 List

Anyone can have a parade. Only Americans can have a parade to celebrate the greatest political achievements in history: establishing and repeatedly defending a country founded on the principle of individual liberty. Memorial Day, which was originally called Decoration Day because it was a day on which the graves of fallen soldiers were decorated, was established in the years after the Civil War to honor those who died in that war. Today, it is a day of rememberance of all who have died in this country's service.

Bravery. Honor. In President Lincoln's famous words, giving the last full measure of devotion to the defense of freedom. These are difficult ideas to explain to children, but it is our responsibility as parents to do it.

Start by bringing your kids to the Memorial Day Parade in your town. During the parade, demonstrate for them the solemnity and gratitude due to the veterans who march past. Take off your hats as they go by. Explain to your kids why we show respect for the flag. With them, cheer for the bands and salute the men and women in our police and fire departments. Think about those currently serving our country in the military around the world, and, perhaps, reflect with your children about the gratitude we owe their courage. If you know parents with a child in the military, take a few minutes to find a way to convey your thanks.

Click here for a brief history of Memorial Day in the U.S., courtesy of the Waterloo, NY web site. Below the following list of dates and times for this year, we have compiled some other good links for those of you ambitious enough to explore further the meaning of Memorial Day.

Also note: If you are marching in a parade, line-up is usually about 1/2 hour before the start of the parade.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

• Brockport Memorial Day Remembrance and Celebration: Begins at 11am May 24, followed by a chicken barbecue at noon at the Brockport Area Vets Club.
  
  
• East Rochester, 10:30 am
  
  
• Waterloo Memorial Day Festival. All kinds of great events May 23-26. (Waterloo, NY is the "Birthplace of Memorial Day." Really!)
  
  

Sunday, May 25, 2008

• Henrietta: 1pm-3pm, Rush-Henrietta Senior High School on Lehigh Station Road to Veterans Memorial Park on Calkins
  
  
• Irondequoit: Parade begins at 5:30 p.m. May 27 at Titus and Hudson avenues; and proceeds to Irondequoit Town Hall.
  
  
• Newark, 1:30 pm (parade starts at Quality Inn, services at Central Park 2pm)
  
  
• Waterloo Memorial Day Festival
  
  

Monday, May 28, 2007

10am-5pm: There is a annual Memorial Day Celebration at Genesee Country Village: There will be a 19th-century-style celebration with live music, wreath-laying ceremony, flag raising, readings, black-powder musket demonstrations, “Long May She Wave” flag exhibit. Concerts at 1pm by Genesee Harmonic Society, then at 2pm by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and at 4pm by the Webster Village Concert Band. The celebration is free with museum admission. (585) 538-6822 for more information. For a full schedule, click here.
• Auburn, 11:00am, along Genesee Street
  
  
• Avon, 10:00am (starts at the high school) - unconfirmed, that was last year's time
  
  
• Batavia, 10:15am - unconfirmed, that was last year's time
  
  
• Caledonia, 10am (advice: get there by 9:30)
  
  
• Canandaigua, 8am opening ceremony, children's program at 9 on front lawn of American Legion, parade at 10am
  
  
• Chili, 8:30am
  
  
• Fairport, 10am
  
  
• Greece, 2pm on Long Pond Road. Long Pond Road closed starting 1:30pm
  
  
• Hilton, 10am
  
  
• Honeoye Falls, 11:30
  
  
• Lima, 10am
  
  
• Livonia, 10am - unverified, this was last year's time
  
  
• Macedon, 11am
  
  
• Marion, 11am
  
  
• Medina, 11am
  
  
• Mendon, 9:15am - unverified, that was last year's time
  
  
• Palmyra, Memorial Communion Service at St. Annes Cemetery on Monday, May 26 at 8:30 a.m
  
  
• Penfield, 10:30am - Ceremony of Remembrance at the Amphitheater, 3100 Atlantic Avenue, Penfield (behind Town Hall). Bring a chair.
  
  
• Pittsford, 10am
  
  
• Riga, 10:15, ceremony at elementary school steps, then parade up to the cemetary - unverified, that was last year's time
  
  
• Rochester, 10:30 Parade forms at Strathallan Park and East Avenue, proceeds along East Avenue to Main Street, then west on Main Street to North Plymouth Avenue
  
  
• Rush, 9:30. St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Route 15A North, Route 251 and then west to Pine Hill Cemetery.
  
  
• Scottsville/Wheatland, 9:30am (Beckwith Ave to Main Street)
  
  
• Spencerport/Ogden, 9am
  
  
• Victor, 10:00am (school to Village Hall)
  
  
• Webster, 9:30am (South Ave to Main Street, to Webster Cemetary, 9:50 ceremony at the cemetary)
  
  
• Waterloo Memorial Day Festival
  
  

If you know of other Memorial Day Celebrations in the greater Rochester area, please email me and I will add them to this list.

More links

Check out some of the stories and thoughts of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who is credited with holding the Union position at Little Round Top at Gettysburg, and was an eloquent professor of rhetoric from Maine besides.

or read about Robert G. Shaw, who was the 26-year-old commander of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first black regiment of the Civil War. Matthew Broderick starred as Colonel Shaw in the 1989 film about the regiment, Glory, which also featured Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.

You could also discuss with them the patriot Nathan Hale, who was the first American captured and executed for spying on the British during the Revolutionary war. He is the originator of the often-repeated "I only regret I have but one life to lose for my country."

For a bit more recent history, you might show your children the famous picture of Strank, Block, Sousley, and their comrades taken just before these three died on Iwo Jima, and talk about what it means.

Or, you might stick with the incomparable words of Lincoln on the topic, so that your children understand that indeed, the heros we honor on Memorial day have done much more than their share, and that it is "for us the living,...to be dedicated....to the great work which they who fought ...have thus far so nobly advanced."