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Memorial Day Parade & Ceremony - Monday, May 26th, 2025

Posted on: May 21, 2025 - 12:37pm
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The Town of Halifax Office of Veteran Services along with the Halifax Board of Selectmen will be holding the Town's Annual Memorial Day Ceremony as well as a Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 26th, 2025, from 10 am through 12:30 pm. The parade will begin at 10 am at the Halifax Country Club and conclude at the Town Hall, 499 Plymouth Street, at around 10:30 am to begin the ceremony. The ceremony will be held in front of the Town Hall. This year's events are dedicated to Sergeant First Class Joshua Curtis.
 
The Office of Veteran Services and Board of Selectmen welcome everyone to join us in honoring those service members who have gone before us and celebrating the ones who are still here by lining the sides of Plymouth Street with your patriotic clothing and waving your flags.

History of Memorial Day

Originally called Decoration Day, from the early tradition of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, Memorial Day is a day for remembrance of those who have died in service to our country. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers.

During that first national commemoration, former Union Gen. and sitting Ohio Congressman James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there.

This national event galvanized efforts to honor and remember fallen soldiers that began with local observances at burial grounds in several towns throughout the United States following the end of the Civil War, such as the May 1, 1865, gathering in Charleston, South Carolina organized by freed slaves to pay tribute and give proper burial to Union troops.

In 1873, New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day as a legal holiday. By the late 1800s, many more cities and communities observed Memorial Day, and several states had declared it a legal holiday.

After World War I, it became an occasion for honoring those who died in all of America’s wars and was then more widely established as a national holiday throughout the United States.