Memorial Day Observances Set

East Hampton

Memorial Day observances in East Hampton begin on Sunday, May 26, when members of the American Legion Post 419 and VFW Post 550 will hold memorial services at cemeteries across East Hampton Town, starting at 8:15 AM.

The order of services is as follows: Wainscott near the school; Cove Hollow in East Hampton; James Lane in East Hampton; Cedar Lawn Cooper Lane in East Hampton; Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church cemetery on Cedar Street in East Hampton; Round Swamp on Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton; Dominy, off Accabonac Road and Town Lane in East Hampton; Ashawagh Hall Cemetery, Springs; Jewish cemetery on Old Stone Highway in Springs; Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk; Atlantic Cemetery, Atlantic Avenue, Amagansett; Oak Grove Cemetery, Windmill Lane, Amagansett. A final service will be held at the American Legion post on Montauk Highway in Amagansett at approximately 12:15 PM.

On Monday, May 27, the “Lost at Sea” service will take place at Main Beach, starting at 9 AM sharp. Following that service, the annual Memorial Day Parade will kick off from the East Hampton Presbyterian Church at 10 AM. The parade will follow Main Street to Hook Mill, where a memorial service will be held on the green.

Southampton

The Commission on Veterans Patriotic Events will hold its Memorial Day Service on Monday, May 27, at 11 AM in Agawam Park. Preceding the service, there will be a short parade from the First Presbyterian Church, down Jobs Lane, to the park.

All veterans are invited to participate and asked to be at the church parking lot by 10:15 to line up. Cars will be provided for those who cannot march.

The invocation and benediction will be given by Reverend Sarah Bigwood, the new pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Southampton.

Bill Evans is the guest speaker. Evans is the program director and meteorologist for 92.1 WLNG Radio in Sag Harbor. He is also a 15-time Emmy award winner and New York Times best-selling author.

Sag Harbor

The annual Sag Harbor Memorial Day Parade will begin at the World War I monument at the corner of Jermain Avenue and Main Street at 9 AM sharp with a three-volley salute, playing of “Taps,” and laying of wreaths. The parade will continue down Main Street to the Civil War monument. There will also be a reading of Logan’s Orders, which, in 1868, established the protocol for what later became Memorial Day.

Additional stops will be made at the Municipal Building, where members of the Sag Harbor Fire Department who died in the service of the country will be remembered. The parade will also stop at the flagpole at the foot of Main Street, before ending at Marine Park, where there is a monument to those who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Wreaths will also be dropped into the harbor to remember those who were lost at sea.

Following the parade, James Laspesa, an Air Force veteran, will give the keynote address. Laspesa, who was stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines during the Vietnam War, will discuss his experiences taking part in “Operation Homecoming,” in which the first American prisoners of war, many of whom had been held in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, were released and brought to Clark before being sent home.

Refreshments will be served at the American Legion following Laspesa’s talk.

Bridgehampton

An honor guard of veterans, members of the Bridgehampton Fire Department, and the Bridgehampton School band will gather at the monument on Ocean Road at 9 AM Monday for the annual Memorial Day observance. In the event of rain, the event will be moved to the firehouse on School Street.

sjkotz@indyeastend.com