By Andrew Welliver
While many communities celebrated Memorial Day on May 29, the last Monday in May, which has come to be the accepted day for Memorial Day, Baldwinsville does things a little differently.
In Baldwinsville, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30, which was the date on which the original Memorial Day was celebrated before the last Monday in May was formalized as the accepted date.
The May 30 tradition is one that is still recognized in many communities.
Richard Clarke, mayor of Baldwinsville, is a among those who supports this tradition.
“Our leaders said we don’t want to switch, we think it’s important to remember the day for what it is, and we want May 30 to still be Memorial Day in Baldwinsville,” he said.
On May 30 51 a collection of grops and individuals gathered to march in the community’s parade.
Among those gathered were five scout troops with four being from the Boy and Cub Scouts, and one being from the Girl Scouts.
The troops helped right before the parade with a service in front of the Baldwinsville Veteran’s monument in front of the post office at 5:45 p.m.
The service included having the local scouts, and others involved recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and afterwards two veterans placed flowers in front of the monument and saluted while “Taps” was played.
After the brief service, the parade kicked off at 6 p.m. with many veterans and members of the local VFW and American Legion chapters.
The streets were lined with around 2,000 people alone watching the parade, and around 300 people marching in the parade itself.
Many local charities also made an appearance in the parade, including Baldwinsville’s Meals on Wheels chapter. These charities and local sponsors helped make the parade possible.
Included in the celebration were marching bands, dance groups, nine fire trucks from various districts and local politicians in classic cars all driving through in the parade.
Even though the parade came after many other parades over the weekend, the attendance was still good.
“This is good news for my village this year because more people can come watch and participate in the parade since no one else has a parade at the same time,” Clarke said.
At the conclusion of the parade, a ceremony was held at the Riverview Cemetery at 6:50 p.m. held by retired Col. Blaine Fleming as the parade’s grand marshall.
There were also two guest speakers, Lorie and Rick Schneider, whose son Marine Cpl. Kyle Schneider was killed in Afghanistan in 2011.
