The Darien Memorial Day Parade will be held Monday, May 27, 2024, kicking off at 10 a.m. Traffic detours and restrictions will be in effect at some locations beginning at 8 a.m. (see below).
Photo by Nanci Natale
On Tuesday, May 22, Poppies were placed around the veterans monument at Spring Grove Cemetery, as at Flanders Fields.
Marchers will gather in the parking lot of Goodwives Shopping Center, 25 Old Kings Highway North, turn right and follow Old Kings, turning left onto Brookside Road and then left onto the Post Road, through downtown, and end up at the corner of Post Road and Hecker Avenue.
Right after the parade (usually at about 11:15 a.m.), the towns’ Memorial Day observance will take place at Spring Grove Veterans Cemetary, across the street from Police Headquarters.
Traditionally, wreaths are placed at the monument during the ceremony. The names of those from Darien fallen in war are read and a gun salute is fired off.
On Wednesday, May 22, boy scouts and girl scouts joined members of the Darien Monuments and Ceremonies Commission in placing flags on veterans graves at Spring Grove Cemetery. Poppies were placed around the monument where the ceremony will take place, as in Flanders Fields.
A Memorial Day keynote address is a highlight of the ceremony. Darien resident Bob Patton will deliver it at about 11:30 a.m.
If the weather doesn’t cooperate (although as of Sunday morning, the weather forecast was for rain only after 3 p.m.), Patton will speak in the Community Room of Darien Library.
— more about the Memorial Day speaker, Bob Patton, here
Traffic Restrictions and Safety Rules
A large contingent of Darien police officers will be assigned to traffic posts before and during the parade.
In order to provide a safe environment and to accommodate parade participants and spectators, Darien Police advise the following:
General Safety Rules
As a safety precaution, spectators are asked to avoid bringing backpacks or large bags to the event.
Spectators are reminded to remain on sidewalks, curbsides, or as close as practical to the roadway edge throughout the duration of the parade. This is necessary to ensure the safety of viewers and marchers alike.
Traffic Restrictions and Parking
• Drivers are advised to avoid the downtown area during the parade.
• All vehicles participating in the parade must enter Goodwives Shopping Center via Sedgwick Avenue or Mechanic Street.
• Persons dropping off parade participants must use Sedgwick Avenue or Mechanic Street.
• 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.
• No vehicles will be allowed to travel on Post Road from Interstate-95 entrance 13 westbound to Old Kings Highway South during the parade.
• Old Kings Highway South from Goodwives River Road to Post Road will be posted as a no-parking area.
Annual Food Fair
Immediately after the parade, Darien EMS-Post 53 holds its annual food fair — its largest fundraiser of the year — in Tilley Pond Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fair features food trucks, live entertainment, games, ambulance tours and a silent auction.
Those who haven’t bought tickets (or can’t find them) can buy them at the park entrance on West Avenue.
“Post 53 relies 100% on the generous donations of our community to provide the best pre-hospital care,” said a post on the organization’s Facebook feed.
Ticket prices: $5 for entrance, $1 to participate in a game; 12 game tickets for $10; 25 game tickets for $20.
Some of the silent auction items: Tickets toa Kelly Clarkson Show, a West Marine inflatable boat and engine and a private sail on a Catamaran on Long Island Sound.
Some of the food booths at a past Memorial Day Food Fair