BRUNSWICK

The annual Brunswick- Topsham Memorial Day Parade will kick off rain or shine at 9 a.m. Monday, with as many as 45 entries taking part this year in the parade.

“Keeping the Home Fires Burning,” is the theme, chosen by the public last year through a new initiative of the Brunswick-Topsham Memorial Day Committee aiming to help involve the community in the planning process more.

This year, the committee is also setting up flag gardens as a way for Brunswick and Topsham residents to honor family and friends killed while serving.

Brunswick residents can join in the parade or follow it to the Brunswick Mall where the flag can be posted in a flag garden near a service flag appropriate to the friend or family member they want to memorialize.

The Brunswick flag garden will be located near the monument at the north end of the Mall.

Topsham residents can take the flag to the flag garden set up on the front lawn of Topsham’s public safety building.

Flags are available at the Brunswick Police Department and will also be passed out during the parade.

This year, World War II Navy veteran Alice Johnson will serve as grand marshal. She was on active duty from 1944 to 1949, reaching the rank of Yeoman First Class. She later served at Brunswick Naval Air Station for several years.

“It’s an opportunity for the communities to pause and remember those that were lost in the pursuit of freedom,” committee chair Tasha Connors said of the annual parade and observances. “And to celebrate the fact that we have the freedom.”

Both of her grandfathers served in the military as well as several uncles and two brothers. She also grew up with BNAS an active air station in town.

“You met people on the street you didn’t know, that were wearing blue for the most part, and I thought (serving on the Memorial Day Committee) was a great way to, first of all, be part of the community and get engaged, but also because, everybody needs a chance to pause and reflect,” Connors said.

“If you don’t remember history, you’re bound to repeat it,” she added, “It’s about honoring and remembering for me.”

The committee is looking for volunteers who can meet on Monument Place at 7 a.m. when and where the parade units will line up.

The parade will start in Topsham at 9 a.m. with the antique cars and head toward Brunswick. The parade will halt on the bridge at approximately 9:30 a.m. for a wreath laying observance and is expected to end at approximately 11 a.m. at the Brunswick Mall.

After the parade, a public observance begins on the Brunswick Mall. The guest speaker is Tim Martel, who served in the Navy from 1963-1988. Martel graduated from Annapolis in 1970 as a naval flight officer. He spent three years in Washington managing squadron manpower requirements.

Since retiring from the Navy, Martel has worked with Bath Iron Works and General Dynamics and has been active in a service organization.

Several other annual Memorial Day events are scheduled in the Midcoast including the following:

Bath

Bath’s parade will assemble at the Smith-Tobey American Legion Post 21 at 10 a.m. and is scheduled begin marching at 10:30 a.m. Participants will march from Congress Avenue to Lincoln Street. The parade will continue to Centre Street for a wreath laying ceremony at the Soldier’s Monument, where Boy Scout Troop No. 21 will play taps. The parade will continue to Front Street and turn left on Linden Street where it disbands. A public memorial service then begins at the Bath City Park.

Rep. Jennifer DeChant will be the special guest speaker at the memorial service. Herman Wright, a past state commander of the American Legion and Vietnam veteran, will serve as the parade’s grand marshal.

Dresden

The Lincoln County Historical Association will hold its 63rd annual observance of Memorial Day. The gathering begins at 11 a.m. Monday at the Pownalborough Court House in Dresden, located at 23 Courthouse Road in Dresden Mills.

Association members will read the roll of those buried in the cemetery, lay flowers on the graves, and then a company of re-enactors will fire a salute. The courthouse will be open for docent-led tours after the observance.

Durham

In Durham, the parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Davis Road and run south on Royalsborough Road (Route 136) to the back entrance of the Durham Community School. Stops will be made at the Gazebo and at Sawyer Cemetery.

There will also be a 5k fun run to benefit the AMVETS Post 13. Registration forms and sponsor forms are available on the town website, at the town office, Get and Go and Asselyn’s Garage.

The Durham Community School PTA will host a Fun Fair after the parade from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Freeport

Freeport’s Memorial Day parade will leave Holbrook Street at 9:30 a.m. The ceremony will be at the town park on Bow Street at 10 a.m.

Harpswell

The American Legion Post 171 in Harpswell will hold a wreath-tossing ceremony on Ewing Narrows Bridge at 10:15 a.m.

The parade starts at 11 a.m. on Lookout Point Road and will end at the north end of Allen Point Road and feature World War II Army veteran Lee Chipman. There will be a short program at the town monument where Sen. Brownie Carson, a Vietnam veteran, will speak and Rep. Jay McCreight will read the war poem “In Flanders Fields.” Gale Doyle will recite the Gettysburg Address and Dorie Barnes will sing the national anthem. There will be refreshments after at Centennial Hall after.

Lisbon

The Nelson-Conley American Legion Post 66 and American Legion Post 158 are coordinating a parade that starts at Crafts on Route 196 at 9 a.m. and ends at Coombs-Montfort Post 158 on Webster Street. After the parade, there will be hotdogs, soda and chips for the children who marched in the parade. At noon, there will be a chicken barbecue at Post 158 for veterans and their families for $8 each.

Richmond

American Legion Post 132 in Richmond will have a Memorial Day parade, which starts at 11 a.m. at Richmond High School. The parade will travel down Main Street (Route 197) to the waterfront park where there will be a wreath-laying ceremony. Rep. Seth Berry will speak and the Richmond High School Madrigals will sing “The Cost of Freedom.” The parade will end up back at the high school. There will be refreshments at the legion on Carding Machine Road for parade participants.

Earlier at around 7:30 a.m. a contingent of Legionnaires including an honor guard and color guard will visit nine cemeteries in Richmond, Bowdoinham and Dresden to conduct ceremonies before the parade.

After the waterfront ceremony, folks are invited to the Southard House Museum’s “American Women who Served ‘Over There’ in WWI” exhibit. The museum’s Memorial Day Open House Monday runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 75 Main St., Richmond.