.

Memorial Day is almost upon us, Weston, and the whispered rumors are true. We had no volunteers step up to lead this year’s ceremony and parade in our town, and therefore, as it stands, we have no Memorial Day celebration, a tradition for the last 150 years. One year was missed for the pandemic–will this be the year we miss because no one steps up?

From the 2021 announcement in the Weston Owl: “In Massachusetts, Memorial Day became a legal holiday in 1881 and in Weston, it was once one of the primary holidays celebrated by the whole town. Activities included speakers and a parade of schoolchildren and Civil War veterans from Town Hall to bring flowers to the cemeteries. In 1905, the parade was led by an 18-piece band and in 1906, children began carrying potted plants instead of cut flowers. [credit: From Farm Town to Suburb by Pamela Fox].”

For some stories of a few Westonians who lost their lives in the service of our country, please see this past Owl.

In all honesty and without being pedantic, the Owl sees this as one of the ways this town has lost community. No, we’re not alone, but I’m guessing with no actual fact involved, that the vast majority of town is heading up to Maine, down to the Cape or to any coastal spot in between to open their second (or third in some cases) home for the summer. We are less than one month away from this town emptying out. Perhaps it’s time that we decide to commit to this holiday, or hand it over to a neighboring town to do better. Oops, there’s my Monday crankiness.

As many know, Beverly Dillaway led the Memorial Day Committee (which is named by the Town Moderator) for many years. She even made a magic binder that gives a cheat sheet for all that should be done. With exactly two weeks to go before Memorial Day weekend, I would think this going to be pared down, so let me see what I can do to help the sure-to-be soon-volunteering volunters:

1. Ask First Parish to ring the Paul Revere bell at 9 am. They are super amenable to that.
2. Memorial Day service: Invocation can be done by one of our pastors in town (we have a bunch, no?), pledge of allegiance by a boy/girl scout and then a guest speaker could be found from one of our veterans. We have quite a few of those too, yes? Or skip the speaker and lay the wreath and raise a new flag.
3. Memorial Day parade: well, it’s going to be too late to organize this. How about an honor walk around Town Green? How about a riderless horse out front (again we have six horses left in town, let’s find one that likes parading), a marching musical foursome (we don’t need a whole band), some kids on hot wheels and perhaps K9 Knox or can we just go ahead and steal Otis the Comfort Dog from Maynard?
4. Cupcakes on the Green – red white and blue. We’ll get some folks if we just have some cupcakes.

And now for the official ask from the Town:

On behalf of the Town Moderator, Volunteers are needed for planning this years Memorial Day Event.. All interested parties please email the Moderator: moderator@westonma.gov, or the Select Board: selectboard@westonma.gov . This temporary committee will help plan this years Memorial Day Event. 

++

If you are going to be in Town for Memorial Day and can help out, please let the Rip Hastings, our Moderator, know. We can do this, Weston.

Go ‘cats!