Memorial Day 2016

Darien Remembers Those Who Served and Died in America’s Wars

Traffic Detours & Restrictions, Other Rules for 2016 Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Day Speaker: Brian O’Malley, Iraq/Afghan War Vet, West Point Grad

UPDATE: Memorial Day Ceremony Will Be in Darien Library, After Parade

Beware Drivers: State Troopers This Weekend Concentrating on DUI, Safety Belt, Cell Phone Laws

Metro-North Schedule Changes for Memorial Day Weekend

Department of Motor Vehicles Offices Close Early Friday, Won’t Reopen Till Tuesday

Post 53 Food Tickets ‘Pre-Sale’ Now Underway for Memorial Day Parade

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 30, 2016

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 30, 2016

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 30, 2016

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 29, 2016

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 27, 2016

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 26, 2016

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 26, 2016

Holidays

By David Gurliacci | May 10, 2016

A parade, wreath-laying, and a ceremony with speakers marked Darien’s traditional Memorial Day commemorations, followed by the (also traditional) Post 53 Food Fair. This year, most of the ceremony was held indoors at Darien Library. The parade, which attracted perhaps as many as 1,000 spectators, included the Darien High School band, scouts of all types, Post 53, fire engines and firefighters, police and veterans, the periodic firing of a gun by one marcher, and contingents from many groups in town or from the region, including Darien YMCA gymnasts who performed flips and hand stands (see the pictures). Starting at 10 a.m., the marchers went from Goodwives Shopping Center to the corner of Spring Grove Cemetery, at Hecker Avenue and the Post Road. Brian O’Malley, a West Point graduate who was awarded a Bronze Star for his service with the U.S. Army in Iraq, then served as a reservist in Afghanistan, gave the main address at the ceremony.

The Town of Darien Memorial Day Parade will be held on Monday, May 30, 2016. Traffic detours and restrictions will be in effect at some locations beginning at 8 a.m.
The Darien Police Department will be deploying additional assets to the parade. As a safety precaution, spectators are asked to avoid bringing backpacks or large bags to the event. The parade will step off from Goodwives Shopping Center on Old Kings Highway North at 10 a.m., proceeding up Brookside Road and turning left onto Post road. __________
— an announcement from Darien Police Department
__________
The parade will proceed westbound on Post Road and end in the area of Spring Grove Cemetery. In order to provide a safe environment and to accommodate parade participants and spectators, Darien Police advise the following:
– There will be no on-street parking on Sedgwick Avenue, Mechanic Street or Old Kings Highway North near the entrance to Goodwives Shopping Center. – The Brookside Road and Old Kings Highway North approaches to Goodwives Shopping Center will be closed to all vehicular traffic at 8 a.m.
– All vehicles participating in the parade shall enter Goodwives Shopping Center via Sedgwick Avenue or Mechanic Street. – Persons dropping off parade participants shall use Sedgwick Avenue or Mechanic Street.

Brian O’Malley, a West Point graduate who was awarded a Bronze Star for his service with the U.S. Army in Iraq, then served as a reservist in Afghanistan, has been selected as the 2016 Darien Memorial Day speaker. O’Malley, the junior vice commander of Darien’s VFW Post 6933 and an officer in the Connecticut VFW, will speak during services held at Spring Grove Veterans Cemetery immediately following the Memorial Day Parade, at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30, 2016. State and local officials, Darien selectmen and Darien Police and fire department chiefs are all invited to this patriotic commemoration. The Darien Monuments and Ceremonies Commission encourages the public to attend. Brian graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1999 with a BS degree in German/French and Nuclear Engineering.

Update 9:04 a.m.:
According to the Weather Channel website, as of 9 a.m., Monday, rain is 55 percent likely at 10 a.m. and 60 percent likely at 11 a.m., with only showers predicted, and nothing after noon. On Sunday night, thunderstorms were predicted, but not now. Update, 8:48 a.m., Monday:
The Memorial Day ceremony will take place in Darien Library’s Community Room, First Selectman Jayme Stevenson announced at 8:38 a.m.:

The Memorial Day Ceremony (usually held in the Spring Grove Veterans Cemetery immediately following the

Parade today) will be held in the Darien Library Community Room. Our speaker, Brian O’Malley will be there and the service will be conducted as usual, but indoors and immediately after the Parade ends.

Sunday night:
Rain or Shine, the Memorial Day Parade kicks off at 10 a.m., First Selectman Jayme Stevenson announced Sunday. But there’s an alternative, indoor location for the ceremony, which town officials will decide whether to use by 10 a.m. Monday:

In the event of rain, the Parade Committee and Monuments and Ceremonies Commission will decide by 10 a.m. tomorrow (Memorial Day) if the ceremony typically held in the Spring Grove Cemetery will be held in the Community Room at the Darien Library.

Connecticut state troopers are joining all state police agencies across the country in concentrating on enforcement of DUI and safety belt laws during the entire Memorial Day holiday weekend. As part of the National C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) program, troopers will concentrate enforcement on all hazardous moving violations, seatbelt use and illegal cell phone use. Sobriety checkpoints will be set up at several locations throughout the state over the holiday weekend. [See the list here — none of the locations on the list are near Darien.]

Connecticut state troopers are preparing for increased traffic during this Memorial Day weekend and for summer 2016 celebrations and vacations. State troopers ask all drivers to utilize courteous driving skills, plan for traffic delays and make safety their top priority whenever they get behind the wheel. These actions will ensure safe travel to and from destinations.

To help you get a jump on the Memorial Day weekend — the unofficial start of summer — Metro-North Railroad has extra early getaway service on Friday, May 27 and plenty of trains to get you to your destination during the long holiday weekend. Friday, May 27
On Friday, May 27, there are 17 extra “getaway” departures from Grand Central Terminal between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and one extra departure from Hoboken Terminal on Metro-North’s Port Jervis Line. ___________

— an announcement from Metro-North

___________

Some late p.m. peak trains will be canceled/combined due to reduced ridership in this time period. All extra and cancelled trains are shown in the current timetable.
New Haven Line
Nine extra “getaway” trains will depart from Grand Central at:

12:58 p.m., stopping at Harlem-125th Street, Westport, and all stations between Fairfield and New Haven.

The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles will close its major offices, including the DMV office in Norwalk, early on Friday, then stay closed Saturday before reopening on Tuesday after Memorial Day. The department’s offices are normally closed on Mondays. The early Friday and all-day Saturday closing gives DMV workers a holiday weekend with most of the rest of us. You can get your driver’s license or non-driver ID card renewed at AAA offices around the state during those offices’ normal business hours on both Friday and Saturday, the DMV announced. AAA offices will be closed on Monday, May 30.

« August 2022 »

Darien EMS-Post 53 announced that it is pre-selling admission tickets for its annual Memorial Day Food Fair at select locations around town. Sales are taking place outside some 16 retail and non-retail locations some weekdays, evenings and all weekends from May 6 until May 27. “Ticket pre-sales are a great way for young families to get to the fun faster after the parade. When you have young children in strollers and your kids are excited to get to the action, it’s hard to wait on line, so why not get right to the fun with your tickets already in hand?” said Gayle Close, co-chair of ticket sales for the Post 53 Food Fair. “A select group of local retailers have kindly allowed us to set up ticket sales outside their stores, so you’ll see Post 53 volunteers all over town in the next few weeks,” she said. “We want to thank our retail partners for their tremendous support.”
“This is also a great way to support Darien EMS-Post 53, recognizing that the Food Fair — while it’s a lot of great family fun, especially for young families — is also a fundraiser to support the work that the community relies on every day,” Close continued.