Mayor and VSO Invite Gold Star Families to March in Memorial Day Parade as Grand Marshalls
The Melrose Veterans Services Department and Mayor Paul Brodeur today announced that the City’s 2023 Memorial Day Parade will be dedicated to honoring Gold Star Families who have lost family members as a result of their service-connected injuries and invites these families to march in the parade as Grand Marshalls. The City will also have a trolley for those who wish to ride instead of marching.
All Gold Star Families are Invited to March as Grand Marshalls
All Gold Star Families interested in marching in Melrose’s parade, taking place on Sunday, May 28, from 1:30-2:30 p.m., should email Roseann Trionfi-Mazzuchelli, the Veterans Services Officer (VSO) and Regional Director for the City of Melrose and neighboring towns of Saugus and Wakefield, at rmazz@cityofmelrose.org or call the Melrose Veterans Services Department at 781-979-4187.
“This year we are proud to honor our Gold Star Families as well as our Service Members who have made the ultimate sacrifice as it truly takes a family to serve in our Military,” said Trionfi-Mazzuchelli. “Those who have passed as a result of service-connected injuries leave behind parents, siblings, spouses, children, and extended families, and by inviting these Gold Star Families to march as Grand Marshalls in our parade, we acknowledge their family’s loss, grief, and continued healing.”
About the Melrose Memorial Day Parade
This Melrose Memorial Day Parade is the City’s way of honoring members of the military who lost their lives in service to our country and their families, in addition to the City’s other Memorial Day Ceremonies, such as the Flag Retiring Ceremony scheduled for Saturday, May 27. A full Memorial Day Schedule will be released closer to Memorial Day.
The parade will step off from Memorial Hall located at 590 Main Street at 1:30 p.m. The parade will continue down Main Street, with stops at Pine Banks where children will be reunited with families. The parade will then continue down Main Street and arrive at Wyoming Cemetery, at which point the main Memorial Day ceremony will take place.
Other Melrose groups or individuals who wish to march in the parade should call the Mayor’s Office at (781) 979-4440, or email Lily Martin, the Communications and Community Outreach Coordinator for the City of Melrose, at lmartin@cityofmelrose.org.
Participants will be required to assemble in the municipal parking lot behind Memorial Hall at approximately 1 p.m., however, those with floats and antique cars will be required to assemble in front of Memorial Hall at 12:30 p.m.
About the Melrose Veterans Services Department
Melrose Veterans Services is part of the Melrose-Wakefield-Saugus (MWS) Veterans Services District. The current MWS Veterans Services District mission statement is: “To advocate on behalf of all the district’s veterans and provide them with guidance on local, state, and federal benefit programs, quality support services and to direct an emergency financial assistance program for those veterans and their dependents who are in need.” Visit https://www.cityofmelrose.org/veterans-services to to learn more, or call (781) 979-4186 to connect directly with the department.