Remembering and celebrating those we have lost

SALISBURY — The Memorial Day parade and ceremony took place on a muggy Monday, May 25, kicking off right on schedule at 10 a.m.

Nick McGarry, son of Jason McGarry (in the color guard) and a sixth-grader at Mansfield Middle School, returned to the Salisbury parade in his Colonial garb, at the head of the veterans. He did not wear his overcoat, however, as a concession to the heat.

At the cemetery, Caroline Barber, a fourth-grader at Salisbury Central School, recited the Gettysburg Address.

James Brazee welcomed the crowd and noted the absence of Danny Brazee, who died two weeks ago.

“We buried one of our own last week,” he said. “He will be missed.”

Three clerics read briefly — the Rev. Diane Monti-Catania of the Congregational Church read the invocation; Father Joe Kurnath of St. Mary Church read the 23rd Psalm; and the Rev. David Sellery of St. John’s Episcopal Church gave the benediction.

Brazee read the list of Salisbury’s war dead, from World War I to the Vietnam War, and again spoke of Danny Brazee, whom he said was a major force behind the Memorial Day activities.

Taps was played and, before the ceremony ended, Lloyd Wallingford introduced a new wrinkle: He sang the prelude to “God Bless America” in his clear tenor, then led the crowd in the familiar verse. The crowd responded enthusiastically, and a new tradition was born.

Afterward, the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association had an ice cream tent set up in front of The White Hart inn. The crowd responded enthusiastically to this as well.