As Rochester’s Events Committee reviewed the plan for its Memorial Day celebration Tuesday, it revealed the town is commemorating the holiday with an entire weekend of events.
The Memorial Day ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, May 25, starting with speakers at Town Hall at noon and followed by a parade to the Council On Aging senior center (weather permitting). But that’s merely the centerpiece of the festivities. The day before, on Saturday, May 24, a Ham and Bean Supper has been scheduled at the COA from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. On Monday, May 25, a boat race from Grandma Hartley’s Pond will begin at 8:30 am.
On Tuesday, the Events Committee ironed out details of the above centerpiece event and planned to craft a poster and a flyer advertising all three celebrations. To this end, Committee member Christopher Gerrior presented his first draft of the Memorial Day celebration program. He announced the Showstopper music group of young singers will sing a Patriotic Medley as the ceremony begins. State representative Mark Sylvia will participate with a speech. State Representative William Staus will attend but not speak. The Gettysburg Address will be recited by a junior at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School, Cameron Makuch, who was chosen for the task by the Old Colony administration. A state proclamation commemorating Memorial Day will be read by a Rochester Junior High School student who is part of its Project 351 program. The Rochester Memorial School Band will perform. Refreshments will be donated by the Artisan Bakery in Rochester.
The ceremony will begin in front of Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way. Following this portion of the event, a parade that will include a Fire Department Honor Guard and all ceremony attendees will march to the senior center, 67 Dexter Lane, then to the Civil War monument at Daggart Square.
Committee Chair Sharon Hartley and board members agreed, however, that any plans for an outdoor parade would be abandoned if there is bad weather, and the ceremony would be moved to take place solely within the senior center. At the meeting’s conclusion, Gerrior said he will speak to the organizers of the supper and the boat race about the details of their events for the flyer and poster and return to the board with a more refined draft of the Memorial Day ceremony program soon.
The committee scheduled its next meeting for May 13, at 5:30 pm, at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Events Committee
By Michael J. DeCicco