Keeping the Memory in Memorial Day

BBQ…opening weekend at the shore…Phillies games…all of these happy activities come to mind when I think of Memorial Day. An unofficial start to the summer, the weather has usually sured up and spirits are high. But let us not forget the real reason we all have the day off. Memorial Day is a time to honor the men and woman who have fallen in service to our great nation.

I am proud that Bucks County is hosting a series of Memorial Day events to do just that. Please check out our calendar for a large number of parades & memorial services set to take place throughout the holiday weekend. We hope that you get the chance to celebrate, and to also check out one (or more) of these events. God Bless America!!!

Parades & Services:

Bensalem: 10AM, 5/31 Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Eddington and Andalusia will lead a parade down Bristol Pike. Eddington VFW Post will have a 9 a.m. prayer service outside its headquarters at 1236 Lavender Road.

Bristol: 11AM, 5/31 Parade will start at Beaver and Pond streets and proceed to the Harriman Veterans Memorial on Farragut Avenue. 3 memorial services are scheduled throughout that morning: at 9 a.m. at the Bristol Cemetery, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Mark Catholic Church cemetery on Radcliffe Street, and at 10 a.m. at St. James Cemetery on Walnut Street.

Bristol township: 5/31, 8 AM service outside the legion hall at 1537 Woodbourne Road. The Veterans of Foreign Wars John Billington Post No. 6495 also will host ceremonies at 11 a.m. on the holiday outside the hall at 1605 Haines Road. At 12:30 p.m. the Joseph A Schumacher VFW Post No. 1597 will lead a parade on State Road through Croydon on Memorial Day. Veterans will march from Cedar Avenue to Bellevue Avenue.

Falls: 5/30, 11:30AM Parade by the American Legion Post No. 834, Starts at Pennsbury High School, marches down New Falls Road and ends at the legion hall on Yardley Avenue.

Langhorne: 5/31, 9 AM services outside the American Legion Jesse W. Soby Post No. 148 at 115 W. Richardson Ave. Then a parade will run through the streets of Langhorne and part of Langhorne Manor. Legion auxiliary members will collect items for troops serving overseas and in military hospitals during the parade. They ask for nonperishable personal care items such as razors, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.

Middletown: 5/31, 8AM American Legion Post No. 960 at 1537 Woodbourne Road – there will be a raising of flags, an honor guard and officials offering some brief remarks. Coffee and Danish will be available to those attending starting at 7 a.m. and up until the service starts.

Morrisville: 5/31, 9 a.m. by Fire Co. starting at North Pennsylvania Avenue near Trenton Avenue. The parade will proceed south on North Pennsylvania Avenue, west on Hillcrest Avenue, south on Lafayette Street to Bridge Street. It will head east on Bridge, south on Washington Street, west on Delaware Avenue to South Pennsylvania, where the procession will head to the Morrisville Cemetery, ending with a brief ceremony at the war memorial there.

Newtown: 5/31, 9 a.m. parade will start at the Commons West Building on Newtown-Yardley Road, stop in Newtown Cemetery for a memorial service at the grave-site of Morell Smith. The procession will exit the cemetery, turn right on Elm Avenue, left onto Washington Crossing Avenue, left onto Lincoln Avenue and then right at Centre Street to the Newtown Library, where a memorial service will also be held. From there, the parade marches down Centre Street, making a right turn onto Court Street to the Episcopal Church Cemetery, where another memorial service will take place. The parade then crosses over Liberty Street, makes a left onto Jefferson Street and a left onto State Street to borough hall. Speeches and a memorial service will follow. The Legion Color Guard, rifle squad, firefighters, veterans and the Council Rock North band will then make a right onto Centre Street and a left onto Sycamore Street and proceed to Olde Saint Andrew Church Cemetery for a memorial service while the remainder of the parade will continue onto Richboro Road from Centre Street to Linden Avenue. From there, the procession will make a right and head to the Morell Smith Post's home. The rest of the parade will eventually return by way of Sycamore Street to Richboro Road to Linden Avenue for a final service.

Northampton: 5/31, 8AM The Marine Corps League Patriot Detachment is holding a flag-lowering at 8 a.m. May 31 in front of town hall at 55 Township Road, Richboro. The ceremony is expected to last about 15 minutes. At 9 a.m., a gathering will be held at Robert H. Dembowski Jr. Veterans Memorial Park at Almshouse Road and Second Street Pike. The park is named after Army Pfc. Robert Dembowski Jr., who was killed by small-arms fire at a Baghdad checkpoint in May 2007. The Council Rock High School North graduate was 20.

Penndel / Hulmeville: 5/29, 9AM Will begin at Ford Avenue and Main Street in Hulmeville. The route will then to left on Hulme Street, which turns into Bellevue Avenue, left at Woodland Avenue, left on Hulmeville Avenue and end at the Penndel Memorial Recreation Field. After the parade, a short Memorial Day observance service will be held at 2 a.m. at Hulmeville Memorial Park at Bellevue and Trenton avenues.

Tullytown 5/29, 9AM Tullytown will honor its veterans and war dead at Main Street and Fallsington Avenue. At noon, a parade will march down Main Street, beginning at 110 Main St. and ending a half mile away outside borough hall.

Upper Makefield 5/31, 11AM A procession leading to the soldiers' graves behind the Thompson Neely House in the upper section of Washington Crossing Historic Park will take place. The free event will feature speeches in honor of the country's fallen heroes. Later that day, at 2 p.m., the Washington Crossing National Cemetery will hold its Inaugural Memorial Day Ceremony. All are invited to the event, which is organized by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Guardians of the National Cemetery, that takes place at the cemetery entrance off Highland Road.

Upper Southampton 5/31, 8AM American Legion Pennypack Post No. 800 will hold a ceremony at the Old School Baptist Church at Maple Avenue and Second Street Pike where fallen military servicemen/women from all the major American conflicts dating back to the Revolutionary War are buried. An 8:30 a.m. service will follow at Sunset Memorial Park on County Line Road. At 9:30 a.m., a community memorial service will be held at Shelmire Field on Street Road. Wreaths will be placed beneath seven trees planted in memory of World War II veterans in Southampton.

Warminster 5/31 10AM VFW Post No. 6493 at the township building, 401 Gibson Ave. A parade will follow and head east on Henry Avenue, north on York Road and east on Street Road.

Yardley / Lower Makefield: 5/31, 9:30AM At a veterans memorial along the Delaware River at River Road and East Afton Avenue. At 11 a.m. a parade will march from Maplevale Drive and Taylorsville Road in Lower Makefield down through Main Street in the borough to the American Legion Knowles Doyle Post No. 317 at 215 S. Main St., where another memorial service will be held for fallen soldiers.