Mayor Brodeur's Memorial Day/Coronavirus Video Update
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Melrose will not be able to have its traditional Memorial Day parade and ceremonies this year. The parade brings together veterans and others in recognition of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. This year, we will honor them in a different way, through individual actions and quiet moments.
Mayor Brodeur, VSO Burke, and the Veterans Services Advisory Board invite all residents to decorate their doors and yards in red, white, and blue and to send photos of their loved ones who have passed away to Sue Caffey at scaffey@cityofmelrose.org. The photos will be assembled into a slide show to be shown either this Memorial Day or in future years. Also please feel free to post your pictures on Facebook with the hashtag #MelroseMemorialDay as well as @MelroseVSO and @MelroseVetsProject.
On Saturday, May 23, Burke and the VSAB members will decorate the veterans’ graves in Wyoming Cemetery. This is normally a public event for the whole community, but unfortunately we cannot do that this year. People should rest assured that the graves will be taken care of.
We also have to postpone our flag retirement ceremony until it is safe to gather together. For now, please hold onto your flags or contact the Veterans Services office at 781-979-4186 so we can arrange a drop-off or pickup of the flag you would like retired.
On May Sunday we will make our way from Memorial Hall to the Knoll as we have in years past. We will be laying wreaths at the Memorials along the way in honor of those we have lost. We ask that the public not attend in order to ensure public safety. A video of the ceremonies will be available on Sunday afternoon on the MMTV YouTube page, youtube.com/user/MelroseMATV.
New this year, Memorial Hall will be lit with gold lights on Sunday evening, in honor of gold star families as a symbolic gesture of unity and recognition for our fallen service members and their loved ones in conjunction with communities across the state.
In addition, on May 24 and 25, MMTV will broadcast videos of past Memorial Day observances.
Finally, we ask you to leave your porch light on this Memorial Day as a tribute to those who never came home.
As you all know, each Friday at 7, Melrose shows its community spirit when we Clap Because We Care. Tonight, after taking five minutes to make some noise to thank our frontline workers, take a quiet moment to honor the sacrifice those all the veterans we recall this Memorial Day.