BRUNSWICK

Memorial Day remembrances of those who sacrificed for their community and country will begin this weekend in Brunswick.

Gov. Paul LePage is scheduled to speak at the Fallen Warrior Ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday at the P-3 Park located on the Southwest corner of Pegasus Street and Admiral Fitch Avenue, at Brunswick Landing. The tribute is organized by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1044 based in Sanford and the Mid-Coast Veterans Council, and will honor those killed or missing in action, as well as prisoners of war, from Brunswick from World War I to the present.

The Brunswick Naval Museum and Memorial Gardens will open the Friendship and Memorial Gardens from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Saturday. This special opening is in conjunction with the Fallen Warrior ceremony and will provide those attending a chance to visit the gardens.

The gardens will be open their usual hours of 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The gardens are located in two interior courtyards of the former base chapel at 179 Admiral Fitch Ave., just to the rear of the P-3 patrol plane. The museum was established to preserve the heritage and significance of the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, and the Friendship and Memorial Gardens located there, and in turn to educate the general public about maritime aviation patrol, base operations, and the interrelationship between the community and base personnel.

The Brunswick-Topsham Memorial Day Parade will take place Monday. LePage is scheduled to march in that parade, as well as Sen. Susan Collins and Capt. James A. Kirk and crew members of the destroyer Zumwalt.

Observances begin at 8:30 a.m. at Topsham Town Hall, followed by the parade down Main Street in Topsham, pausing for an observance at the Frank J. Wood Bridge, before continuing through Maine Street in Brunswick and concluding at the gazebo at the Brunswick Mall at approximately 11 a.m.

Those who are attending the parade or any of the Topsham and Brunswick ceremonies, and want to share their Memorial Day photos can do so on the committee’s official Facebook and Instagram pages. Use the hashtag #Memorial- DayME2014.

This year’s theme is “Remembering D-Day.”

A Memorial Day Prayer Service will take place at 11 a.m. Monday at St. John’s Cemetery on Pine Street in Brunswick, weather permitting. The Rev. Frank Murray, pastor of All Saints Parish, will lead the service near the flag pole at the cemetery’s center.

In other area events:

— At the memorial wall on the lawn of the Wiscasset town office, the American Legion Post 54 will perform a service beginning at 9 a.m.

— There will be a Memorial Day Parade in Freeport, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Monday, followed by a Memorial Day Ceremony at Bow Street Park at 10 a.m. The parade route is set to start at Freeport High School on Holbrook Street, with participants gathering at 9 a.m., and will turn on to Main Street North, ending at School Street. For more information, contact Gloria DeGrandpre at [email protected] or at 232- 6648.

— In Harpswell, a 10:30 a.m. Wreath Ceremony will be held at Ewing Narrows Bridge, followed by an 11 a.m. parade, beginning at Lookout Point Road, and ending at Allen Point Road.

— The annual Memorial Day student concert kicks off Memorial Day at 11 a.m. Monday at the gazebo at Library Park. Phippsburg Elementary School and St. John’s School Band, under the direction of Kathy Downing, conductor of the Bath Municipal Band, will lead the 65-member band in patriotic songs and popular selections. The concert is free.

In case of inclement weather, the concert will take place at St. John’s Church basement. Contact Kathy Downing at 841-3002 for more information.

— The annual Memorial Day service for the town of Woolwich will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, May 26, at the Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church, under the leadership of the Rev. Roger Blundell. As per tradition, this service rotates through five churches in town and leaders from all of the churches take part in the service. It is coordinated by the Woolwich Historical Society. Also, on May 31, Charlotte Leeman Sutter, one of the town’s oldest citizens, will turn 96. All are encouraged to send a card.

— Gulf of Maine Books (134 Maine St., Brunswick) will host a Memorial Day Poetry Reading by Maine Veterans on Monday, May 26, at 2 p.m. The readers will include Denis Dunn, Terry Grasse, Preston Hood, Doug Rawlings and a number of other Maine Veterans. The event is free, and open to the public. For more information, please contact the bookstore at 729-5083.

— In honor of Memorial Day, Patten Free Library in Bath will show MPBN’s film “A Matter of Duty” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 27. The event is free and open to the public. A panel discussion will follow at the conclusion of the film. Guest speakers include Joy and Greg Johnson, Roy Driver and Bob Joyce.

“A Matter of Duty” explores post-traumatic stress disorder through the story of Kennebec County Sheriff Randy Liberty. Upon his return from combat in Iraq, Sheriff Liberty struggled with PTSD and received therapy at Togus VA. He was then instrumental in several initiatives to serve veterans, including Maine’s first Veterans Treatment Court in Augusta, and the innovative Veterans unit within the Kennebec County Jail. Jennifer Rooks, host and executive producer of Maine Watch and winner of two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, and Charles C. Stuart, a recipient of the George Foster Peabody and Alfred DuPont awards and eight national television Emmys, joined forces in “A Matter of Duty” to tell this story of the continuing war at home known as PTSD.

Greg Johnson is a retired Navy admiral. He and his wife Joy run a non-profit called “Embrace a Vet” which offers alternative therapies — including retreat weekends — for veterans with PTSD. Roy Driver worked with the Maine Veterans Center system for about 30 years and helped establish the Veterans Court. He serves on several boards and is well versed in the subject of PTSD. Bob Joyce was an infantry Marine from 2000-05 and served in Ramadi, Iraq, from September 2004-March 2005. He is a member of the Midcoast Veterans Council.

— Bath Memorial Day Parade will assemble at the Smith-Tobey American Legion Post 21 legion hall parking lot at 10 a.m. The parade will depart at 10:30 a.m. and travel right onto Congress Avenue to Lincoln Street, turn right onto Lincoln Street and continue down Centre Street for the wreath laying ceremony at the Soldier’s Monument where Boy Scout Troop 21 will play taps. 

The parade will then continue to Front Street and turn left onto Lenden Street where it will disband. The memorial service will then start in Library Park at Patten Free Library and all are welcome to attend.

— The Lincoln County Historical Association will host the 60th Memorial Day Service Monday at Pownalborough Court House in Dresden. The service begins at 11 a.m. with a program to honor fallen veterans and the laying of flowers on the graves. The flag will be raised and re-enactors will provide a musket salute after the service. Built in 1761, the court house is located at 23 Court House Road, off Route 128 in Dresden.

— The annual Memorial Day Parade in Lisbon will assemble at 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Monday at Crafts Transport on Route 196 in Lisbon Falls. The parade will proceed to Main Street, turn up Main Street to School Street, to Addison Street, to Campus Avenue, to Berry Avenue, back to Route 196, then to Lisbon High School.  From the high school, buses will transport the participants needing rides to Lisbon Elementary School for re-assembly.  The parade will then proceed down Village Street, Lisbon, to the Veterans Memorial Bridge on Webster Street, then to Coombs-Mountfort Post 158. Those needing rides may ride the buses from Post 158 back to the high school.  Refreshments for the participants will be provided at Post 158 where there will be a chicken barbecue at noon for anyone from the public wanting to attend, with a cost of $7 per person.

— At 7 a.m., Emerson-Lane American Legion Post 132 members will set out to conduct ceremonies at eight cemeteries: Cotton Cemetery on Route 197 in Richmond; Evergreen Cemetery in Richmond; the cemetery on Route 197 just across the bridge in Dresden; Maple Grove Cemetery on Indian Road in Dresden; Maxwell Cemetery on Route 24 in Bowdoinham; the cemetery across from Bowdoinham Community School; the Bay View Cemetery on Route 24; and a cemetery on White Road.

Taps will be played and wreaths will be laid at each cemetery. A rifle squad will conduct a 21-gun salute.

The annual Memorial Day parade will begin at 11 a.m. at the entrance to Richmond High School. Participants will travel down Main Street to Waterfront Park for a memorial ceremony, which will include laying a wreath in the river in honor U.S. Navy service members. Organizers encourage wives and widows of W.W.II and the Korean war as well as female veterans to share what Memorial Day means to them. The flag will be raised at noon.