The Veterans Council of Seneca Falls announces the Year 2022 schedule of events to celebrate Memorial Day in the Town of Seneca Falls.
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Flags will be placed on veterans’ graves in the local cemeteries on Saturday, May 28, at 9:00 AM. The public is invited to join members of the local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars in this activity.

The parade will be held on Monday, May 30, starting at 9:15 AM at the Mynderse Academy parking lot on Troy Street and proceeding to Veterans’ Park (formerly Academy Square). Marchers should report to Diane Lahr-Smith, parade coordinator, at 8:45 AM. The Veterans of All Wars will lead the parade. The Poppy Prince and Princess, winners of an essay contest for Seneca Falls fourth-grade students on “What Memorial Day Means to Me,” are Benjamin Lilly and Kloe VanCleef of Seneca Falls.

The parade grand marshal will be Jim DiCesare, a lifetime resident of Seneca Falls. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he served in the Signal Corps as a pole lineman from 1962 to 1964 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. After his honorable discharge at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., he returned to Seneca Falls and worked as a painter at Knight’s Lettering for 40 years until his retirement. Active in community affairs, he is past president of the Seneca Falls SMS and has supported activities for the Women’s Hall of Fame and St Anthony’s Festival and serving on the executive board of American Legion Post 366. He and his wife, Carolyn (Gaglianese), have been married for 60 years and reside in Seneca Falls.

Ceremonies honoring the Dead of All Wars will be held at 10:00 AM in Veterans’ Park. Master of ceremonies will be Art Evans, past commander of American Legion Post 366. Pastor Jerry Graziano of Finger Lakes Christian Fellowship will deliver the invocation and benediction. "The Gettysburg Address" will be delivered by Evelyn Balzer, a senior at Mynderse Academy.

The keynote speaker is Walter Gable, Seneca County Historian. Born in Seneca Falls, he received a master of science degree in social studies at Syracuse University and taught social studies at Mynderse Academy for 30 years. He served as president of the New York State Council for Social Studies in 1997 and in 2014 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Seneca County.
At the conclusion of the ceremonies, the public is invited for refreshments at the American Legion located at 48 State St.