MEMORIAL DAY AND A BIRTHDAY BASH
Salem pays tribute to veterans and also celebrates town’s bicentennial in annual parade
Salem — Monday morning’s parade down Route 85 was first and foremost in honor and memory of those lost in battle, but a few floats made this year’s parade a little more special.
After all, it’s not every year that your town turns 200 years old, and no birthday is complete without a cake, even a cake-shaped float that, at more than 10 feet tall, towered over its chef-costumed guides.
Parade-goers lined up along the road from Salem School to the town green, with human and canine visitors alike in red, white and blue shirts, leis and other holiday garb. They waved, cheered and barked as their neighbors marched and drove tractors and antique cars down the route, representing Salem’s volunteer fire companies, scouting organizations, sports leagues and businesses. Fire trucks from Lyme and Chesterfield also appeared in the parade.
The giant birthday cake float wasn’t the only one celebrating an important milestone this year. In addition to its safari-themed vacation Bible school float, the Congregational Church of Salem built another one with a replica of its first church building and an apple harvest scene to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its apple festival in the fall.
The parade portion of the day’s festivities concluded with the East Lyme High School Viking Marching Band. After the church bell tolled seven times and the flags were lowered to half-staff, the musicians joined the Salem School band to open the Memorial Day ceremony and service on the town green with the national anthem.
In his speech during the ceremony, Selectman Ed Chmielewski, an Army veteran and the town’s military liaison, highlighted Salem’s history of military service. He noted that nine soldiers from town walked to Massachusetts to fight in 1775 Battle of Lexington that started the Revolutionary War, and Salem’s residents can sleep soundly thanks to the service and sacrifice of soldiers like them.
“‘It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died,’” he said, quoting Gen. George S. Patton. “‘Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.’”
Other speeches included those from First Selectman Kevin Lyden, parade grand marshal and Air Force veteran Selectman Ron Labonte, and prayers by the Rev. Ron Sylvester of the Congregational Church of Salem and the Rev. Michael Jones of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Oakdale. Sylvester’s opening prayer was capped by a C-130 airlifter flying over the town green; the air display was coordinated by Bob Ross, former selectman and current executive director of the state’s Office of Military Affairs.
After the church bell tolled again to end the ceremony, Lyden introduced the bicentennial-related activities on the green, including displays of a time capsule and a reconstructed cupola for the library, both of which are slated to be installed in the fall.
Former longtime resident Robert Lecce, whose family has lived in town for nearly a century, dressed in period costume and read from the original state general assembly proclamation announcing the establishment of Salem as a town in 1819. The Salem School band performed “Salem Quickstep,” a piece written in the 1800s by resident and Music Vale Seminary founder Orramel Whittlesey, and children gathered around the birthday cake float to sing “Happy Birthday” to the town.
Additional bicentennial events include a 5K trail run and walk hosted by the Salem Land Trust on June 8, a summer-long commemorative medallion hunt on the town’s hiking trails, a “Salem’s Got Talent” show hosted by the library in August, and a Heritage Day celebration in September. For the complete list, visit salemct200.wixsite.com.