Courtesy Photo/Cape Elizabeth
CAPE ELIZABETH — The Memorial Day parade is back in Cape Elizabeth and it will feature a new parade route and ceremony.
The Memorial Day Parade after two years of cancellations due to the pandemic. Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, in Cape Elizabeth will be observed with a parade, followed by memorial ceremonies in the town center.
“The big change this year is that there is a new parade route,” said Jim Huebener, Memorial Day Parade chairman.
The parade begins at 9 a.m. and participants will gather at the middle school parking lot at 8:30 a.m. The parade route begins at the middle school parking lot, turns right on Scott Dyer Road to Ocean House Road (Route 77), and ends at the Village Green. Starting this year, the memorial ceremony will be held at the new Village Green which is adjacent to town hall.
“This is an opportunity for the community to come together in remembrance of those who have died serving our nation,” said the town of Cape Elizabeth in a news release.
A brief ceremony and laying of the wreath is held at the Village Green War Veterans Monument after the parade.
In 2020, the town council voted unanimously during a special meeting in July to install a flagpole and move the War Veterans Monument to the lot next to the town hall on Ocean House Road. The War Veterans Monument was previously found next to Pond Cove Elementary School on Scott Dyer Road. The monument is now part of the Ocean House Common Village Green and is not the location for Memorial Day celebrations.
The parade will include members of the Cape Elizabeth Police Department, fire and rescue departments, Lions Club, water extrication team, Rotary Club, middle school marching band, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Veterans and active-duty personnel are invited to march. Groups interested in marching should contact Jim Huebener at jhuebener56@gmail.com.
Veterans and active-duty personnel are invited to march and any families with active duty members in the armed services can let Huebener know and they will be recognized. The 2022 parade Grand Marshal is Grace McKenzie, a United States Army veteran.
The parade is the opportunity for the community to come together again for the first time since the 2019 parade. During the past two years, the town posted a video remembrance to the town website to honor those who died in active military service.
The parade will only be canceled in case of inclement rain. If the parade is canceled, an announcement will be posted on the town’s website by 7 a.m. on the day of the parade.
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