Butler County, Warren County Memorial Day parades and ceremonies

Several communities will hold Memorial Day parades and ceremonies on Monday, May 29.

FAIRFIELD

The city’s Memorial Day Parade will form in the parking lot of Express Scripts, 4865 Winton Road. Parade line up is from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m. The parade will step off at 10 a.m.

The parade will turn left on Hicks; right on Nilles; left on Bibury; right on Wessel; and end at Fairfield Veterans Memorial Park.

The Hamilton-Fairfield Concert Band will perform patriotic music and other favorites at Veterans Memorial Park from 10 a.m. to noon.

The parade concludes with a ceremony to pay tribute to veterans, both past and present at Veterans Memorial Park. Guest speakers include representatives from local veterans groups.

HAMILTON

Memorial Day parade starts at 10 a.m. Monday. The parade will begin on Neilan Boulevard; then east on Court Street; north on 2nd Street; east on High Street; north on 7th Street; and then turn east on Heaton to Greenwood Cemetery.

The Memorial Day program at Greenwood Cemetery should begin around 11:15 a.m. in the cemetery’s Grand Army of the Republic section. It will feature Phillip Alexander, Army veteran from the Vietnam War, as the keynote speaker. He was the 2015-2016 Ohio State Commander of the Disabled American Veterans and is a coordinator of volunteers at the Cincinnati Veterans Administration Hospital.

Chaplain Frank Smith, AMVETS Post 1983, the Hamilton High School Marching Band, and Caleb Keene are all participants in the program. Keene is a local high school student, a member of the Butler County Young Marines, and will be entering the United States Marine Corps in August of this year.

MIDDLETOWN

Memorial Day Parade will start at 10 a.m. Monday. Parade begins at Smith Park, then heads straight down North Verity Parkway, crosses over Central Avenue and continues past Girard Avenue, past Yankee Road, continuing to 14th Street and ending at Woodside Cemetery.

Line-up starts at 9 a.m. for parade participants.

A ceremony at Woodside Cemetery will begin at 11:30 a.m.

WEST CHESTER TWP.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7696 will host its annual Memorial Day Parade at 10 a.m. The parade begins north of VFW headquarters, 8778 Cincinnati Dayton Road, and ends at West Chester Cemetery on West Chester Road. Community members are encouraged to line the route in a show of support for service women and men.

This year’s parade grand marshal is Thomas McGill who is a member of VFW Post 7696. McGill enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 1966, serving as a radioman second class. He completed two tours of duty in the South Pacific on the island of Guam and in Vietnam.

Following the parade, the community is invited to a ceremony at West Chester Cemetery. The ceremony will feature the Lakota West marching band as well as guest speaker Byron Seals, a WWII veteran.

CARLISLE

Memorial Day parade and service will be held at 1 p.m.

Parade forms at 12:15 p.m. at Roscoe Roof Park on Beachler Road. The parade will proceed north on Park Drive from Roscoe Roof to the memorial on Park Drive for “Taps” and a 21-gun salute, then continue on to Central Avenue and west to Jamaica Road.

It concludes at the New Jersey Presbyterian Church cemetery for “Taps” and a 21-gun salute. A memorial service will be held at the cemetery.

Grand marshal for this year’s parade is Rachael Gross.

All veterans and first responders will be recognized and honored. Frank Clay, a local Civil War historian, will be the keynote speaker for the memorial service at the Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

FRANKLIN

The city’s Memorial Day parade will form at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the former OKI Factory. Fire trucks and large vehicles will line up across the street in the truck waiting lot at South Main and Ohio 73.

The parade will stop first at the Clearcreek Bridge, where a wreath will be dropped into the water honoring all service members who lost their life in the military. At this time, all motorcycles will be released from their Baxter Drive staging area and proceed to Veterans Park at 3rd and Main streets.

The walking parade will continue north on Main Street to Amvets Post 120 at 6th and Main streets for a military prayer, 21-gun salute, the playing of “Taps” and raising of the flag.

The same ceremony will then take place at V.F.W. 7596 for the same ceremony as at Amvets. The parade will continue north to Veterans Park.

A ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at Veterans Park Chairs will be provided.

LEBANON

Memorial Day parade will begin at 11 a.m. on South Street and proceed north on Broadway to Silver Silver Street to the Lebanon Cemetery.

A ceremony will be held in Lebanon Cemetery.

MASON

Memorial Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the American Legion Hall Post 194 at 401 Reading Road. The parade will travel north on Reading Road to Main Street then head south on Mason-Montgomery Road before concluding at the Mason Veterans Memorial.

The parade will be followed by a ceremony at the Mason Veterans Memorial beginning at approximately 11 a.m. with featured guest speaker William Patric Leedom, a 34-year Navy veteran.

The grand marshal for this year’s parade will be Arthur Katz, a WWII veteran.

Following the ceremony, the public is invited to attend a luncheon at the American Legion post 194, located at 401 Reading Road.