After a 10-year hiatus, the Secaucus Memorial Day Parade will return to the streets on Saturday, May 22. The two-mile parade kicks off at noon.
“We thought that bringing back the parade would be fun, and would be a nice way to honor our residents who served in the military and to have some real community involvement in the event,” Mayor Michael Gonnelli said last week.
Organizers say more than 36 community organizations have signed up to march in the parade, which will begin at the Trolley Park (at the end of Paterson Plank Road) and end at the American Legion office on Centre Avenue.
“We have seven marching bands. We have the Secaucus High School Marching Band, the Passaic Marching Band, the Port Authority Bagpipers, and a few others,” said Mickey Halpin, one of the lead organizers for the parade. “And there will be classic cars.”
Getting more vets to come out for the parade is now a major focus for the event’s organizers.
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Resident Ed McClure will serve as grand marshal for the parade.
The American Legion will serve food for the event.
Halpin estimates that more than 1,000 marchers will take to the streets to honor local military personnel who lost their lives serving the country.
“It’s important that we remember them and recognize their service and sacrifice,” said Halpin, whose fatrher is a veteran of World War II.
The parade will honor both those who lost their lives and living vets, even though Memorial Day typically honors those who have passed, while Veterans Day usually pays tribute to the living.
“In Secaucus, we have a number of people who have served,” said Halpin’s sister Paulette Halpin, another parade organizer. “There are the younger veterans, but many of our veterans are quite elderly now. The ones who served in World War II won’t be with us for much longer. And even the ones from the Vietnam War and Korean War are getting older. We want them to know we appreciate them and haven’t forgotten them.”
Calling all veterans
Getting more vets to come out for the parade is now a major focus for the event’s organizers.
Despite impressive response from civic groups in town, organizers said last week they hope more vets will agree to participate.
Because many Secaucus veterans are elderly, actually walking in the parade may be difficult for them. But the mayor emphasized that vets need not walk if they are not able.
“We have enough people who have volunteered their cars,” Gonnelli said. “So any vets who want to participate can ride in a car. They don’t have to walk if they don’t want.”
He said any veterans interested in riding in the parade should contact his office at (201) 330-2005.
Engaging the community
The parade is a departure from the Veterans Day ceremony the town typically holds in November at Town Hall. The ceremony was attended by vets and their family members, but few members of the larger community attended. Mayor Gonnelli said he hopes the parade will encourage more residents to come out and show their appreciation for local vets.
“Hopefully the weather will be nice and because it’s a parade, we’ll probably get more families to come out,” Gonnelli said. “So, I think we’ll have a much bigger crowd. And that will be nice for the veterans to see that support.”
In an effort to get Hudson County communities more interested in honoring vets, former freeholder and current Hudson County Veterans Affairs Director Barry Dugan launched an effort a few years ago to formally recognize local vets. In cities and townships across Hudson County, veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War are honored annually where they live.
“The veterans are the people who developed the country the way it is,” said Paulette Halpin. “We have freedoms that most people don’t have. Although I don’t believe war is always an answer, I do believe we fought long and hard for the rights that we have in this county and [vets] should definitely be honored. They do things that most people wouldn’t even fathom.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.