Memorial Day activities to honor local members of the armed forces who lost their lives serving their country will look a little different again this year due to the pandemic.
The City of Rochester is one of many local communities that decided to scale back parades or other activities again this year due to the pandemic. Even with the COVID-19 infection rate falling, the pandemic made it difficult to schedule some Memorial Day events.
But there will still be some parades and other remembrances in our area, including in the Town of Greece. Earlier this month the town initially had said it would have to cancel the parade, but then Supervisor Bill Reilich announced that with many people in town expressing disappointment, the town and American Legion Post working together will hold a parade starting at 11:00 a.m. on Monday.
That parade in Greece will proceed down Long Pond Road from Janes Road to the Greece Town Hall Campus. It will be followed by a remembrance ceremony at 11:45 a.m. held at the Greece Town Hall Pavilion.
The Town of Irondequoit on Sunday held what they call a reverse parade, where veterans groups, first responders and others lined up at the Town Hall, and local residents drove by on Titus Avenue to honor them.
There are a number of other Memorial Day observances throughout the region. That includes a ceremony hosted by VFW Post 8495 in Fairport at 300 Macedon Center Rd. starting at 11:00 a.m., and a Memorial Day ceremony in Pittsford at 10:00 a.m. a the Pittsford-American Legion Rayson-Miller Post 899.
One Memorial Day ceremony that will have special significance Monday is in Seneca County, at the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Romulus.
Last week, a selection committee voted to designate Sampson as a state veterans cemetery. It is located on land that was part of the former Sampson Air Force Base and Naval Training Station.
Officials will mark the new state designation with a ceremony at 1:00 p.m. on Monday.
