North Canaan Memorial Day

Residents lined Main Street Monday morning for one of the region’s few Memorial Day parades to proceed as planned. Spectators gathered near the Doughboy monument, Collins Diner and storefront sidewalks as North Canaan honored fallen service members with a parade, patriotic music from the North Canaan Elementary School band and somber speeches.

Rain threatened early in the morning but ended in time for the parade from Town Hall through downtown. Families with children and dogs in tow tailgated in their cars, set up lawn chairs and waved as the entourage passed.

Kirk Harrington, commander of Couch-Pipa Post 6851 in North Canaan, introduced Ken Merrill, who led everyone in prayer before Joan Segalla Baker, Grand Parade Marshal, spoke to the crowd of approximately 150 who circled around the Doughboy statue, a tribute to American infantrymen in World War I.

“We remember those who did not come home,” Baker said. “When I was in high school, we had three graduates from HRVHS who never made it home from the Vietnam War.”

“I would like to honor Staff Sgt. Norman Stoddard from Kent,” she said, “George W. Clark, United States Marine Corps, from Lakeville, and Lt. Michael John Carley of Sharon, a helicopter pilot.”

Baker also pointed to “Hometown Heroes” banners flying from the town’s utility poles, a new initiative to recognize local veterans.

John Coston