Plans in the works to restart annual Memorial Day parade

RADNOR >> After getting canceled last year due to the pandemic, plans are in the works for this year’s annual Memorial Day parade in Wayne.

At a recent meeting of the Radnor Board of Commissioners, township officials and the committee that organizes the annual event said plans are in the works for the 2021 event.

Bill White, township manager, said over the past few weeks the Memorial Day Committee has been preparing for this year’s parade as they have in most other years.

Last year’s parade was canceled due to the pandemic, but there was a ceremony attended by a few dozen people at the township’s war memorial in on South Wayne Avenue.

Organizers said they plan on emphasizing issues such as wearing masks and social distancing along the parade route. The route begins at the Radnor Financial Center and goes west along Lancaster Avenue to South Wayne Avenue and then ends at the Radnor War Memorial.

They also plan on having each of the parade participants spread out more than in the past.

Following the parade, they are also planning on holding a ceremony at the war memorial on South Wayne Avenue.

One of the long-held traditions is to read the names of those residents who gave up their lives in past wars.

Parade organizer Marty Costello said many family members who lost relatives still live in Radnor and want to hear the names mentioned during the annual ceremony.

“So this is a very important parade for them,” Costello said. “It’s very important for them to hear their family names read at the memorial every year.”

Some commissioners expressed support for holding the parade this year.

“I’m 100 percent supportive of having the parade,” Commissioner Rich Booker said. “We need to get back to normal in the state and the country and in Radnor. We need people. People need to get out and to participate. This honors or veterans, and it’s a solemn and patriotic event, and it’s very meaningful and anyone who’s concerned about COVID — if they’re concerned, they should take precautions they feel is necessary.”

PETE BANNAN - MEDIANEWS GROUP U.S. Army Vietnam veteran Dennis Murphy places a wreath at the Radnor Memorial Day service during a previous year’s ceremony.