Memorial Day Parade will honor women Saturday

Lawrence’s annual holiday event steps off at 10 a.m.

By: Lea Kahn
   When the annual Lawrence Township Memorial Day Parade steps off promptly at 10 a.m. Saturday, women military veterans — from World War II through Operation Desert Storm — will be honored.
   Township residents Nicole Blaine-Savadge, Miriam Curtis, Mildrid Hutsinpillar, Gloria Longhi and Rose Walker will be among the women military veterans to be honored, said township Superintendent of Recreation Steven Groeger.
   The parade will be led by the grand marshal, Col. Joseph File, U.S.M.C. (Ret.), and the honorary grand marshal, Col. Maria Morgan. As the state deputy adjutant general, Col. Morgan is second in charge of the 9,000 members of the state Army and Air National Guard.
   The Memorial Day parade participants will make their way along Princeton Pike, starting near Stonicker Drive, to Darrah Lane. They will turn onto Darrah Lane and then onto Birchwood Knoll and Oaklyn Terrace. The parade will wind up in Veterans Park for the annual services, which includes placing a wreath at the memorial in the park.
   But in the event of rain, the parade — but not the Memorial Day services — would be called off. Memorial Day services would be held at 10:30 a.m. at the American Legion Post 414 headquarters on Berwyn Place, township officials said.
   Ms. Hutsinpillar, who was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurses Corps during World War II, is the master of ceremonies, Mr. Groeger said. She will introduce Col. Morgan, who plans to speak about women in the military, he said.
   "This will be a bigger parade (than in recent years)," Mr. Groeger said. "It is bigger and glitzier, but it also has been expanded to include more veterans. We want to encourage people to come out to the parade and support the veterans.
   "There will be a lot of things that are different," he said. "We have four marching bands. We have never had more than three marching bands (in the parade)."
   The marching bands include Lawrence High School’s Red Scare — the first time in 15 years that the high school has fielded a marching band, he said. The other bands include the Al-Val Sousa Band, the Lia Fail Pipes and Drums Band and the Uptown String Band.
   Also, for the first time in several years, the Khufu Shrine Temple will send along marchers and some members on horses, Mr. Groeger said. They will march at the end of the parade, after the fire engines and ambulances from the volunteer fire companies and First Aid Squad.
   Color guards will abound, Mr. Groeger said. The U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force are sending color guards. The American Legion Post 414 color guard will take part in the parade. The Lawrence Township Police Department is sending its newly formed color guard, along with 18 police officers, he said.
   And the Rahway High School Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) will send along its color guard and male and female drill teams to take part in the parade, he said.
   Mr. Groeger said this parade will feature much more participation by veterans groups, including Purple Heart recipients and Ukrainian and Italian war veterans groups.
   Veterans James Hewitt, who is a Pearl Harbor attack survivor, and Jonas Levin, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, also will take part in the parade. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3022 will send representatives, along with the VFW state junior vice commander, he said.
   And from the American Revolutionary War, Col. Edward Hand — portrayed by township resident William Agress — will march in the Memorial Day Parade. Col. Hand’s troops held off the British troops in the days preceding the Battle of Princeton.
   Gianine Teti, a former township resident who is the reigning Miss Rhode Island, plans to participate in the parade, Mr. Groeger said. Ms. Teti’s family lives in Lawrence.
   Township groups, ranging from the Cultural and Heritage Advisory Committee to the Garden Gate Garden Club, the Lawrence Historical Society and Lawrence senior citizens, also will march. Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops will march, too.
   Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, as well as the Knights of Columbus, will send representatives to the parade.
   Elected officials, including the mayor and Township Council and the Lawrence Township Board of Education, will march in the parade. School students also will take part, too.
   "You walk a fine line (in setting up a Memorial Day parade)," Mr. Groeger said. "Memorial Day is not a joyous occasion. It’s about remembering the military people who died in the service of this country. We want people to come to the parade to cheer the veterans who served this country.
   "We don’t want it to be so somber that people don’t want to come to the parade," he said. "We try to balance it with some glitz."