Less ceremony, but the same spirit as region celebrates Memorial Day

LACONIA — COVID-19 has scaled back the traditional Memorial Day ceremonies – as it did a year ago – but throughout the Greater Laconia area, communities and their veterans will do their best to maintain the spirit of the holiday.

There will be no parades or marching bands. The ceremonies themselves will be brief. Mask-wearing, though not required, is in most cases being encouraged.

In Laconia, ceremonies will take place Monday beginning at 11 a.m. in Veterans Park, located in Veterans Square.

Mayor Andrew Hosmer is scheduled to speak briefly. Representatives of the local American Legion and Veteran of Foreign Wars posts will also give remarks, after which there will be the laying of a wreath in the small park that hosts the honor rolls listing the names of local veterans of both World Wars, as well as the Korean War and Vietnam War.

After the ceremonies, VFW Post 1670, which is organizing this year’s observance, will host a luncheon which is open to the public, according to Timm Grant, the post commander.

Providing a backdrop for Laconia’s ceremony will be the expanse of flags that have been arranged in neat rows around the square.

Some 4,000 12-by-18 inch flags cover the lawn in front of the Laconia Congregational Church and Parish House, as well as the triangular-shaped island where the tallest flagpole in the square stands.

Members of the church and some other volunteers placed the flags this past weekend — a job that took about 10 hours to complete, according to Hollis Thompson, who together with her husband, Greg, have spearheaded the effort, which began three years ago.

Initially about 3,900 flags were put out — a number to correspond to the number of names on the war service honor rolls. This year they added more flags to bring the number to 4,000, Thompson explained.

In Meredith, members of the American Legion will meet early on Monday morning for brief observances at two of the town’s cemeteries. The ceremony at Oaklawn Cemetery in Meredith Center is scheduled for 8 a.m., followed by one at Meredith Village Cemetery on Route 3 at 9 a.m., according to Bob O’Neill, commander of the Griggs-Wyatt American Legion Post 33. At 10 o'clock, a contingent from the Legion, Sons of the American Legion, and Legion Auxiliary will go to the veterans monument in front of the library for a ceremony. From there the group will process to the Lang Street Ceremony for a short observance.

The group will then proceed to Hesky Park for a ceremony where Deborah Crosby will be the main speaker. Crosby’s father, Frederick Peter Crosby, was shot down over Vietnam and listed as MIA for years. His remains returned to the family just four years ago, according to Bob Jones, who for years has organized ceremonies and vigils at the POW-MIA park on Meredith Bay.

Afterward the Legion will host a luncheon at the post home on Plymouth Street, O’Neill said.

The ceremonies in Gilford will begin at 10 a.m. with a short ceremony at the veterans monuments on Potter Hill Road opposite the Gilford Community Church. Participants will then process to Pine Grove Cemetery, where there will be prayers and remarks by head Selectman Gus Benavides. A small choir from the Gilford Community Church will sing the national anthem, and a trumpeter from the Gilford High School band will play “Taps.”

The Gilford Police Department and Gilford Fire-Rescue will each provide honor guards.

Transportation will be available for those unable to walk from one ceremony to the other, Town Administrator Scott Dunn said.

In Belmont, the observance will be held at 1 p.m. at the war memorial in front of St. Joseph Church.

The flag will be raised to full staff and then lowered to half staff, and the names of veterans who have died since the last Memorial Day will be read, according to Woody Fogg, adjutant of Belmont American Legion Post 58. A group of Girl Scouts and members from the Legion Auxiliary will toss flowers into the Tioga River in honor of Navy and Coast Guard service members who died in combat. Post Commander Rich Stanley, and Vice Commander Russ Fabian will speak.

Physically-distanced members of the Belmont High School band will play the national anthem and “Taps.” An honor guard will give a rifle salute.

On Monday, residents at the New Hampshire Veterans Home will watch a recording of the observance at the State Veterans Cemetery. The 100 residents will watch a virtual ceremony on Tuesday that will include remarks by Gov. Chris Sununu, all four members of the state’s Congressional Delegation, and members of the Tilton Board of Selectmen.

The names of the 83 Veterans Home residents who have died in the past year will be read.

Because of ongoing COVID precautions, the residents will watch the ceremony in small groups, rather than in one large assembly, explained Sarah Stanley, the home’s public information officer.

In Wolfeboro, American Legion Harriman-Hale Post #18 will gather at the Wolfeboro Town Docks for a cermonial gun salute, Taps, and scattering of flowers.

In Sandwich, observances will take place on Monday at 10 a.m. at the Honor Roll Memorial, next to the Sandwich Post Office. Community Church Pastor Deb Hoffman will offer prayers. Television personality John Davidson will sing the National Anthem and New Hampshire's theme song, Live Free Or Die. The guest speaker will be retired Air Force Col. Harry Batchelder. Another highlight of the occasion will be the addition of names to the Honor Roll. Former Sandwich moderator and selectman Lee Quimby will preside over the program, as he has done for the past 25 years.