Danvers Memorial Day Weekend 2024 Events

DANVERS, MA — The following Memorial Day services in Danvers are part of a nearly 160-year tradition that honors military personnel who have lost their lives in service to their country.

On Wednesday, the Danvers Veterans Services officer distributed flags at the Sylvan Street entrance to the cemetery to place at the graves of veterans in Walnut Grove Cemetery.

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Danvers’ 2024 Memorial Day parade and ceremony will be held on Monday, beginning and ending this year at a new location – Holten Richmond Middle School, 55 Conant Street. The parade will start at 9am and follow the usual route.

Traditional stops and wreath-laying will take place at the Memorial Pole in Danvers Square, the City Hall Memorials and the Porter Hill at the high school.

All Danvers veterans are invited to participate in the parade as civilians, with a handicap accessible cart available for those unable to march.

The Memorial Day Ceremony will be held at the conclusion of the parade (10am) in this year’s new venue – the Holten Richmond Middle School Auditorium. There will be performances by the Danvers High School Marching Band, Danvers High School Advanced Chorus, Musket Salutes from the Danvers Alarm List and the Deceased Veterans Roll Call.

Because the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an opportunity to visit Danvers cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when General John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost during the fighting during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History .com. As time went on, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866 preceded Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the war, as southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the more than 116,000 American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all those who died in military service.

Each year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they are doing, Americans are being asked to observe a moment of silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, noon was chosen because it is a time when many Americans will enjoy their freedoms on a national holiday.