New Britain will honor Memorial Day with ceremonies at war memorials and a parade on May 30, 2018.
The New Britain community has a long tradition for how to honor veterans on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, holding ceremonies on the traditional days of remembrance, rather than on the Monday the three day weekend for each day.
So, New Britain’s official celebration of Memorial Day, including its parade, is on May 30th. The parade will begin at 6:00pm.
War memorials are placed throughout New Britain, remembering those who served, and especially those who gave their lives, in different wars. The city has long held to the tradition of holding separate memorial ceremonies at each of the monuments, reading the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and remembering where they fought and what they did.
The Memorial Day commemoration ceremonies will held at,
- 8:00am at the General John Patterson Memorial on East Street, near the corner of Allen Street.
- 8:30am at the Spanish American War Memorial at Willow Brook Park at 635 South Main Street, near the corner of Veterans Drive.
- 8:45am at the Vietnam Memorial at Willow Brook Park, 635 South Main Street. The Memorial is on the southwest corner of Veterans Stadium, best accessed from the stadium parking lot.
- 9:15am at the Sherrod E. Skinner Memorial, at the corner of Corbin Avenue and Lincoln Street.
- 9:45am at the Israel Putnam Stone in Walnut Hill Park
- 10:00am at the World War I Memorial Monument in Walnut Hill Park.
- 10:30am at the General Casimir Pulaski Monument and General Tadeusz Kosciuszko Monument at Pulaski Park at the corner of Broad and Burritt Streets.
- 11:00am at the Civil War, World War II, Korean and Vietnam Memorials at Central Park.
- 11:30am at the Belviedere Area World War II Memorial at Campbell Square at the corner of Stanley Street and Hillcrest Avenue.
- 11:50am at the Captain Brian S. Letendre U.S.M.C. Memorial at the corner of Pendleton Road and Sunnyslope Drive
- 12:15am at the 65th Infantry Regiment Borinqueneers Monument on Beaver Street near the corner of LaSalle and Washington Streets and Farmington Avenue.
At 6:00, the Memorial Day Parade will begin at the corner of Burritt and Broad Streets.
Parade participants assemble at Burritt and Broad Streets at 5:00pm. At 6:00pm, the parade marches the 2.2 mile route that, according to the city website, runs:
- Down Broad Street to Main Street, then
- Down Main Street,
- Continuing through downtown, and
- Ending at Franklin Square in front of the New Britain Courthouse.
According to the city website, veterans organizations and auxiliaries participating in the parade include,
- Marine Corps League Hardware City Detachment
- General Haller Post Polish War Veterans
- Franco-American War Veterans
- Veterans of Foreign Wars
- Korean War Veterans
- Northwestern Veterans TGM Memorial Post, and their respective Auxiliaries
The city website also says that youth and other organizations marching in the parade will include,
- Fagan/Cal Ripken and New Britain Baseball Little Leagues
- New Britain Youth Soccer
- YWCA
- New Britain EMS
- New Britain Fire
- New Britain Police
- Falcons Club
The New Britain Jr. Canes and New Britain PAL have both announced that they will be participating in the parade.
The city website says that marching bands participating in the parade include,
- New Britain High School Golden Hurricanes
- DiLoreto School
- Pulaski Middle School
- Roosevelt Middle School
- Slade Middle School
- Colonel John Chester Fife & Drum Corps
- CT Patriots Senior Ancient Fife & Drum Corps
- Deep River Junior Ancient Fife & Drum Corps
- Manchester Regional Police & Fire Pipe Band
- Marquis of Granby Ancient Fife and Drum Corps
- St. Peter’s Drum Corps
- Westbrook Drum Corps
