Memorial Day parades, more on tap in towns north of Portland

FALMOUTH — The communities north of Portland will celebrate Memorial Day with parades and other activities Monday, May 29.

Falmouth will host a Memorial Day parade and ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. The parade will start at American Legion Memorial Post No. 164 on Depot Road, wind down Route 1 to Foreside Road and end at Pine Grove Park.

Following the ceremony, refreshments will be served on the lawn at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.

Falmouth’s American Legion Post has sponsored a Memorial Day parade in town since at least 1946, when World War II veterans began returning home.

Units marching in the parade will include color guards from the Legion and the Fire Department, along with representatives of Boy Scout Troop 93, town and school leaders, the middle and high school bands, the Lions Club and more.

The ceremony will include an invocation by the Rev. Janet Dorman of the Foreside Community Church, patriotic songs sung by local students, speeches and laying memorial wreaths at the war monuments in the park.

The goal of the Memorial Day events are “to honor and show gratitude for our veterans who have lost their lives fighting for our freedom,” Diane Moore, one of the organizers, said.

She said the parade and ceremony would be canceled in the event of rain.

In Cumberland, a kids fun run will take place on the Greely High School track, 303 Main St., at 8 a.m. The Community Band will perform on the school lawn from 8-8:30 a.m., and a 5K Run & Remember race will start at 8:30 a.m.

Cumberland’s Memorial Day parade starts at 10 a.m. near the School Administrative District 51 superintendent’s office, 357 Tuttle Road, and proceeds up Tuttle Road and down Main Street. The event will conclude with a veterans monument ceremony at Moss Side Cemetery, with guest speaker Brig. Gen. Gerald Bolduc.

If weather forces the ceremony to be moved indoors, it will be held in the Greely High School gym, 303 Main St.

Flags will be raised at 8 a.m. in the North Yarmouth Veterans Memorial Park, at the corner of Memorial Highway and Parsonage Road. All flags will be left at half-staff, and lifelong resident Dick Baston will be honored for his military service and contributions to the park. All flags will be raised to full staff at noon.

Yarmouth’s Memorial Day parade will leave Yarmouth High School, 286 West Elm St., at 10 a.m. The procession will end at Memorial Green, where a ceremony will be held at 11 a.m.

On Chebeague Island, a service will be held at the Methodist church at 1 p.m.

Freeport starts the day at 8 a.m. with its downtown Main Street Mile event, presented by the Nike Factory Store. The town’s parade follows at 9:30 a.m., forming at Freeport High School at 30 Holbrook St. The parade, which will feature police officers, the fire crew, school bands, and other community organizations, will head down Main Street and turn on to School Street.

The parade will then turn right onto Park Street before ending at the park on Bow Street for a 10 a.m. ceremony.

A Memorial day weekend sidewalk sale will also take place. Log on to freeportusa.com/event/freeportusa-side-walk-sale-memorial-day-weekend for more information.

Following its 8 a.m. 5K and fun run, Durham’s parade will line up starting at 9 a.m, with the event kicking off at 10 a.m. The procession will start at the corner of Davis and Royalsborough roads, move south on Royalsborough Road (Route 136), pause at the Sawyer Cemetery, and conclude at the Durham Community School, 654 Hallowell Road.