New Hyde Park Board Talks Changes to Memorial Day Parade

The New Hyde Park Memorial Day Parade maybe taking a different or shorter route in 2013 following points brought up at the regular meeting of the village board at the village hall Tuesday night.

The VFW had requested to hold their annual Memorial Day parade on Saturday, May 25. The parade route follows the traditional route beginning at Hillside Boulevard, proceed east on Jericho Turnpike, north on New Hyde Park Road then west on Lincoln Avenue to Memorial Park field for services.

Trustee Lawrence Montreuil said that he held discussions with the veterans last year about changing the route.

“Originally they were receptive,” he said, “and then decided some logistical challenges but i can certainly pursue it again if the board wants.”

Among the conversation was a shorter procession starting at the village hall and ending at Memorial Park or vice-versa, “which seems to make more sense to me,” Montreuil said of the latter option “because they have refreshments here afterwards, the park would give us a big marshaling area that won’t tie up traffic down on Hillside Boulevard; perhaps a parade route down New Hyde Park Road might be interesting.”

It was put forth that the current construction project by the state on Jericho Turnpike might be a reason for the parade not to proceed along Route 25.

“If we were to shorten the length,” deputy mayor Robert Lofaro said, “if I’m a parent, I’m not going to drive my kid to march four blocks, it just doesn’t seem... it’s not a lengthy parade but for our veterans, the old timers, it is a bit of a challenge.”

Lofaro suggested the parade could stop briefly at village hall, lay a wreath then continue on to the next memorial.

“I think the issue we had was that the parade stops here and then everyone just stands for 15 minutes and then it proceeds,” he said. “I think the issue is maybe the time of the parade, it doesn’t have to be the eleventh hour of the eleventh day like Veteran’s Day so the fact is if there was a ceremony done in front of village hall at nine o’clock and then a parade beginning at 10 o’clock, that the events out here and the parade is two different (things).”

Montreuil said that “I think the logic behind the two stops on the parade route is that it is a procession if you will to honor the veterans at the different sites here.”

Another issue with the parade is dwindling attendance along the route.

“It seems even more sparse because it is spread out on Jericho Turnpike,” Montreuil said, suggesting that the parade may start at the parking lot on Lakeville Road which is also the rallying point for the New Hyde Park Memorial homecoming day parade.

“That might condense more people in a shorter part of Jericho Turnpike that it may feel like there’s more involvement,” Montreuil said.

“It’s a lengthy enough parade that it’s meaningful, yet it’s as you say a little bit more condensed from the Hillside Boulevard start,” Lofaro said. “I do realize that the stopping here and the ceremony and the reading and the so on is problematic for all the participants in the parade who don’t even get a chance to witness what’s happening here – that’s a travesty in itself.”

Last year due to the extremely hot weather, one of the uniformed high school drummers passed out in the street during the ceremony at village hall

Montreuil said that he would “open up more dialogue” with the VFW.

The board did approve the request for the traditional parade route but requested more dialogue on the route.

“If they say this is the route they want, I’m OK with it,” Lofaro said.

After the meeting Lofaro went on to say that “the veterans do a ceremony at Memorial Rock, but the rest of the parade is standing on Jericho Turnpike all the way back to Lakeville Road, just waiting and then they finish their ceremony and rejoin the line of march. We want to help the veterans, it’s their parade, the village sponsors it but it’s their parade and we want to be helpful because we’d like to see attendance go up and like to be more inviting and people can become more connected to it.”

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