Memorial Day Rites In Hoosick Falls

Memorial Day Rites in the Village of Hoosick Falls will begin on Monday, May 25, with the raising of flags by American Legion Post Commander Walt Zwinge at Maple Grove Cemetery and St. Mary’s Cemetery. At 8 am the flag will be raised at Wood Memorial Park with a salute by the American Legion and their auxiliaries.
Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion Auxiliary, accompanied by the Hoosick Falls High School Band, will assemble at the corner of Main and Wilder Avenues at 8:15 am and march to the Shop Bridge to honor men of the Navy who lost their lives at sea. The Legion will fire a volley salute and taps will be sounded by a trumpeter from the HFCS Band.
The Parade Committee, with Chairman Don Bogardus, will honor the dead of the Civil War at Monument Park, located at the junction of Classic and High Streets, at 8:45 am.
At 9:15 veterans from the VFW, Hoosick Barracks 152, World War Veterans and the American Legion, accompanied by VFW and American Legion Auxiliaries, will assemble at the World War I Memorial located in Wood Memorial Park. Wreaths will be placed at both WW I, WW II, Korean and Vietnam Monuments. Wreaths will be placed by the VFW and American Legion Auxiliary President Marie O’Dell. American Legion Chaplain Joe Ruggiero will offer a prayer.
The Parade
The Parade, consisting of four divisions, will assemble along the right side of Main St. at 9:15 am and step off sharply at 10.
The first division will line up across from Key Bank and will include a police car, the Legion colors, Grand Marshal Walter Davendonis, the Legion Auxiliary, Veterans, the HFCS Band, Village, Town and County officials, the Hoosick Area Church Association, St. Mary’s Academy, Trustco Bank, antique cars, a Rescue Squad vehicle and the Uncle Sam’s Chorus.
The second division will line up in front of Robson-Reinfurt Funeral Home and will include the Hoosac School, the Girl Scouts and Brownies, the Republican Party, Cheney Library, the White Creek Fire Dept. and the Buskirk Fire Dept.
The third division will line up at Eddy Place and will include the North Hoosick Fire Dept., the Hoosick Falls Community Band, the Hoosick Falls Fire Dept., the West Hoosick Fire Dept. and the Boy Scout Troop #65 float.
The fourth division will line up at Estabrook Ave. and will include the Taconic Pipe Band, Miss Olivia’s British School of Ballet, the Mason Float, the Polish Hall Float, the Hill Country Cloggers, the Hill Hollow Band, a Rescue Squad vehicle and unlisted entries.
All entries which include horses must form at the end of the line up.
The parade will proceed down John St. and up Church St. to the NYS Armory and the Town of Hoosick Community Center where it will pause for a brief tribute to the men and women who served during World War II. The Line of March will then continue to the intersection of Main St. At that point a pause will take place and Pastor Michael Benoit of the Cornerstone Fellowship Church will offer a prayer for deceased veterans. The American Legion will fire a volley and taps will be played. The parade will continue down Main St. to Wood Memorial Park. All units are asked to march into the Park and remain assembled while Master of Ceremonies Legionaire Don Bogardus, followed by Hoosick Town Supervisor Marilyn Douglas and Hoosick Falls Mayor Matt Monahan will deliver official welcomes. A few words of Remembrance will be spoken during the ceremonies by Rensselaer County Legislators Stan Brownell and Lester Goodermote and representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Legion Auxiliaries. Principal speaker will be Rensselaer County District Attorney Rich McNally.
At the closing of ceremonies the American Legion, under the command of Walt Zwinge, will fire a Volley Salute. Taps will be sounded, followed by chimes from St. Mark’s Church playing “America.”
Rev. Benoit will give the invocation and pronounce the Benediction.
The program will close with the National Anthem played by the HFCS Band, under the direction of Robert Allen.