Butler County Memorial Day parades, events

Memorial Day events throughout Butler County will honor those who died during active military service.

Here are planned events:

MIDDLETOWN

Middletown’s parade will start at 10 a.m. Monday at Smith Park and will travel Verity Parkway to Woodside Cemetery, where the memorial service will begin at 11:30 a.m.

MORE: Middletown Memorial Day Parade honors former firefighter, veteran and his mother

Grand marshal of the parade will be Ginger Bruggeman whose late son Scott served in the Marine Corps and was a Middletown firefighter.

The keynote speaker at the Memorial Day service will be state Sen. Frank LaRose, a veteran of the 101st Airborne and a member of the Special Forces. LaRose won the Republican nomination to run for Ohio Secretary of State in this month’s primary election.

HAMILTON

Hamilton’s parade will happen on Monday, and the route will be the same as last year, said organizer Michael Cupp.

The parade will begin on Neilan Boulevard; then travel east on Court Street; north on 2nd Street; east on High Street; north on 7th Street; before turning east on Heaton and on to Greenwood Cemetery where there will be a ceremony.

FAIRFIELD

The city of Fairfield will celebrate Memorial Day on Monday with a parade featuring veterans groups, military units, the Fairfield High School Marching Band, community groups and organizations, the Fairfield Police Department, and Fairfield Fire and Paramedic units.

The parade starts at 10 a.m. from the parking lot of Express Scripts, located at 4865 Winton Road, and ends at Fairfield Veterans Memorial Park.

A band will perform patriotic music and other favorites at Veterans Memorial Park starting at 10 a.m. At the conclusion of the parade at Veterans Memorial Park, a brief ceremony will take place to pay tribute to the veterans, both past and present. Guest speakers include representatives from local veterans groups and City of Fairfield Mayor Steve Miller.

WEST CHESTER TWP.

West Chester Twp.’s annual Memorial Day Parade will take a new route this year.

The parade’s starting location has moved to the intersection of Aviation Way and Dimmick Road, according to township officials. The route goes north on Cincinnati-Dayton Road to West Chester Road before heading west to Brookside Cemetery.

Residents are encouraged to bring a blanket or chair and join neighbors at 10 a.m. Monday along Cincinnati-Dayton Road, south of West Chester Road, for the parade, presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7696.

A presentation honoring those who have served and those who continue to serve in the military will follow the parade at the cemetery, where more than 700 veterans, including 100 who served in the Civil War and one who served in the Revolutionary War, are among those buried, according to the township.

BUTLER COUNTY

The Butler County Historical Society will re-open the historic Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument on Front Street in Hamilton for Memorial Day visits from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday. 

Visitors can see the names of several thousand soldiers engraved on the marble walls, view the stained glass windows honoring the role of women during wartime and meet the monument’s new curator, Butch Frederick.

The interior of the monument will appear as it did when it first opened in 1906.

The monument also will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays the entire month of June.

During this initial period visitors can view boards telling about the history of the monument, the story of the “Billy Yank” statue on the top of the building, and review future improvements and programs being planned.

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