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The Reporter June 2012
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Memorial Day Weekend Means a Seekonk Parade, and the Start of an Important Endeavor Seekonk’s Veterans’ Service Officer aims to sell 8,000 bricks to fund and adorn a new memorial at Town Hall.
by Jim Chandley Hundreds of people lined Newman Avenue in Seekonk this May for the annual Memorial Day parade. The procession was organized by the American Legion’s local 311 post and included plenty of local groups. Bands from both Seekonk High School and Hurley Middle School provided music while others, such as the local fire and police departments, YMCA dance crew, and breast cancer awareness groups, marched or rode along. Baseball players, soccer players and other athletes from recreational leagues in town joined, as did groups from local churches and scouting troops. “I liked the part where they danced,” smiled young Lyla Mello of Burnside Avenue in Seekonk. Lyla and her mother took in the sights from their chairs pitched at the bottom of Read Street. The dancers were accompanied by a mobile speaker system playing popular music, and their dancing was aimed at getting kids excited about physical activity. “It was really hot, but we had fun,” said Nate Girard, a trumpeter in the Hurley Middle School band. Girard and his band mate Nathan Amaral were sweaty and tired when they finally arrived back at Hurley Middle School, but they had smiles on their faces. “It was a little distracting, seeing friends waving at you, but it was nice to have the support,” said Amaral. Seekonk’s Board of Selectmen also marched in the parade, “Nobody threw anything at us,” joked Selectman Gary Sagar afterwards. The board’s newly elected member had high praise for the work the Legion had done to arrange the celebration. “The American Legion did a very nice job putting it together. We know it’s a lot of work, but they did a very nice job.” After the parade was over, Seekonk Veterans’ Service Officer Seth Bai announced that a new project is being undertaken to build a Veterans’ Memorial outside Town Hall. “We’re using the same approach that several other nearby towns are, starting with a brick program,” said Bai in an interview on Wednesday. The town is selling bricks, which can be engraved with the message of your choosing. For Veterans, bricks will cost $50, any resident can buy a brick for anyone at a price of $65, and small businesses may purchase one for $250. When the project is fully funded, the bricks will become part of the memorial in the form of a walkway or patio. “We will be using that circle,” said the former Marine, indicating the grassy area in the middle of the rotary in front of Town Hall. “Right now we’re thinking of a circular walk, there may be engraved benches and other places to mount placards,” he added. The size and design of the memorial, as well as the time of its completion, depend largely on how many bricks are sold. At the present time, a possible goal is to sell 8,000 bricks. While this size project will take time, there will be at least some public recognition of brick sales and design progress by Veterans’ Day. “Unfortunately, there’s no way the memorial will be complete by then, but we hope to have some sort of a
Drawing of the layout for New Seekonk Senior Center