GOLDENS BRIDGE, N.Y. - When the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department hosts its annual Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony on Monday, May 26, a cast of local participants will help lead the observance honoring military service members who didn’t make it home.
“There are a number of elements that give this year’s parade and ceremony local character. It’s the Goldens Bridge community joining together in gratitude for those who gave their lives in service to their country,” said the event’s committee chair and Golden’s Bridge firefighter Joseph Simoncini.
The parade, which will include the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department fleet and contingent of firefighters – and again expects a large turnout of veterans and local residents, including children riding their patriotically adorned bicycles and scooters – steps off at 9:15 a.m. from Todd Hill Circle, proceeds west on Rt. 138, and turns into the firehouse grounds – where the memorial ceremony, whose backdrop will be the 4-ton granite American Legion Monument, takes place.
The honor of Parade Grand Marshal has been bestowed on Charlie Green, a U.S. Army veteran and longtime Goldens Bridge resident who is serving in his 65th year as a volunteer firefighter – the longest tenured member of the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department.
John Jay High School students and sisters, Nalaia and Nalani Nosworthy, 10th and 9th graders, respectively, who perform with the school’s acapella group, the Noteables, will get the ceremony started when they sing the National Anthem.
John Lemke, chair of the Town of Lewisboro Veterans Advisory Committee who served as 2nd Lt. in field artillery during the Vietnam War era, and Mark Vibert, a committee member who served as Petty Officer 2nd Class U.S. Navy Reserve and saw active duty as an Electronics Technician 2nd Class, will be guests of honor. They will be among the group that concludes the ceremony by placing beautifully crafted wreaths on either side of the American Legion Monument, whose longtime caretaker has been the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department.
But the centerpiece of the local character that will pervade this year’s event is brief introductions prepared by Vibert that provide a snapshot into the lives of three Golden’s Bridge residents who perished in World War II and whose names are engraved on the American Legion Monument’s bronze plaques among the names of the 76 Golden’s Bridge residents who served in World Wars I and II.
Following the presentations on the three deceased veterans – Ronald K. Isgate, Norman B. Slote, and John B. Winter, Jr., two of whom had service connections to the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department – Golden’s Bridge officers and firefighters will dramatically read each of the 76 names engraved on the Monument plaques.
Among other observances, the event’s program will include the traditional ceremony of raising the American flag outside the firehouse to half-staff while the iconic firehouse bell tolls for two minutes.
Breakfast refreshments will be served immediately following the ceremony.
Simoncini, who also serves as a Fire Commissioner of the Golden’s Bridge Fire District, said all veterans, residents, families, friends and local organizations are invited to march in the parade and attend the special ceremony.
“It’s a nice way to start your Memorial Day with your family, friends and neighbors, remembering our war deceased and sharing breakfast fare,” he said.
For more information, contact the Golden’s Bridge Fire Department’s public information officer via email at pub3634@gmail.com or 914-403-4072.
Article courtesy of Golden's Bridge Fire Department.
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