Service continues as grand marshals

WWII, Korean veterans Kramer, Morehead to lead Memorial Day parades in G.N. , Port Washington

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

A pair of local veterans will serve as grand marshals for Memorial Day parades in the Town of North Hempstead starting on Saturday.

Port Washington American Legion Post No. 509, selected World War II Marine Corps Veteran Martin (Marty) Kramer to serve as the grand marshal for the post’s Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 29.

Kramer, when informed of being selected as grand marshal, said, ”My time in the Marine Corps was quite memorable and I would certainly do it again.”

Kramer and his wife of 67 years, Margot, currently live in Manhasset. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Campus Drive and will proceed down Port Washington Boulevard and Main Street to the Sousa Memorial Bandshell.

A Memorial Day commemorative service will take place at the bandshell following the parade.

Retired Navy Torpedoman Third Class Jim Morehead will serve as the grand marshal for Great Neck’s 97th Memorial Day Parade Monday, May 29, at 9:30 a.m. Morehead, who has served on the Great Neck Memorial Day Parade Committee for more than 25 years, frst enlisted in the Navy in 1952.

After his basic training, he reported to the USS Picking ship in Newport, R.I. In April 1953, his ship was dispatched to the North Korean Coast.

Great Neck will also honor former residents

Lt. Col. Martha Raye and First Sergeant John H. Starkins. Raye, an honorary Special Forces member, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Bill Clinton in 1963.

Harkins was a recipient of the Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor.

The parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Susquehanna Avenue and South Middle Neck Road, ending up at the Village Green. Following the parade, a Memorial Day ceremony will take place at the Village Green before the veterans and color guards from the Vigilant and Alert fre departments march to All Saints Church.

Louise McCann, a retired U.S. Army master sergeant and chair of the Great Neck Memorial Day Parade Committee, stressed the importance of Great Neck holding its parade on Memorial Day.

“Great Neck has always had our parade on Memorial Day because it’s not about barbeques or sales at the mall,” McCann told Blank Slate Media. “It is to thank God and honor the 1.5 million Americans who died protecting our country.”

Floral Park will be designated as a Purple Heart Village and honor wounded veterans who received a Purple Heart military decoration.

The designation as a Purple Heart Village means a municipality recognizes the sacrifce of people who have served their country, particularly those who are Purple Heart recipients and their families, according to village ofcials.

Ruben Pratts, a representative of the National Military Order of the Purple Heart, will be the guest speaker at the event.

The Floral Park parade will take place Monday, May 29, at 10 a.m. The parade will start on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Plainfeld Avenue before turning north onto Plainfeld, west onto Jericho Turnpike and south onto South Tyson Avenue before turning onto Tulip Avenue.

The parade will end at Veterans Memorial Park, where the village’s Memorial Day ceremony will begin at 11 a.m.

The Village of New Hyde Park will be hosting its Memorial Day Parade Saturday, May 27, at 10 a.m.

The parade will begin on Hillside Boulevard before turning east onto Jericho Turnpike, north onto New Hyde Park Road, west onto Lincoln Avenue and fnishing at Memorial Park.

A wreath ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. before the Memorial Day Ceremony starts at 11 a.m.

The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire/Water District Board of Commissioners, the Ofcers of the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department and the Manhasset American Legion Post 304 are sponsoring the Manhasset Memorial Day Parade and Service.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 29, and will run along Plandome Road from Plandome Court to Memorial Place. A total of 25 organizations and six bands are scheduled to march, including fre trucks from the Manhasset-Lakeville and Plandome Fire Departments.

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