Memorial Day 2024: Parades, ceremonies and concerts in the Cincinnati area
Editor's note: This story was updated with information about the Blue Ash Memorial Day parade and speaker.
Memorial Day is right around the corner. Not only does this holiday indicate the start of the summer season, but it's a day where we can recognize and honor veterans and those who have served in the armed forces with parades and wreath-laying ceremonies.
This Memorial Day, events are happening all over Greater Cincinnati throughout the day. If you're interested in joining in the ceremonies, here's everything you need to know to attend an event near you on Monday, May 27.
Cincinnati Memorial Day events
Anderson Township
Bell Ceremony: 11:45 a.m., Anderson Center’s South Plaza, 7850 Five Mile Road, Anderson Township. The speaker is television anchor and U.S. Air Force veteran Craig McKee. Names of deceased members of the armed forces will be read during the ceremony. andersontownshipoh.gov.
Blue Ash
Parade: 10:15 a.m., begins at Reed Hartman Highway and Cooper Road, and will conclude at the Cancer Support Community Parking lot, 4918 Cooper Road. There will also be a ceremony there once the parade concludes.
Ceremony: 11:15 a.m., Cancer Support Community Parking lot, 4918 Cooper Road. The keynote speaker is retired Major General Leonard M. Randolph, Jr. He is a doctor, and was the first African-American promoted to General Officer in the United States Air Force Medical Service, and the first African-American to hold the position of Deputy Surgeon General in any of the military services.
Concert: 7 p.m., Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony’s Memorial Day Concert, Blue Ash Towne Square, 9520 Towne Square Ave., Blue Ash. blueash.com.
Cheviot
Parade: 11 a.m.-noon, route on Harrison Avenue. With VFW Post 10380. explorecheviotohio.com.
Clifton
Community participation parade: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Mt. Storm Park, 700 Lafayette Ave., Clifton. Volunteers prepare picnic, band will play. cincinnati-oh.gov.
Fairfield
Parade: 10 a.m., begins at Express Scripts, 4865 Dixie Highway, ends at Veterans Memorial Park, 701 Wessel Dr. Parade is led by VFW Post 1069 and includes police and fire vehicles from Fairfield and Fairfield Township along with Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, community and non-profit groups, and the Fairfield High School Marching Band.
Ceremony: Following parade, Veterans Memorial Park. Guest speakers included representatives from local veterans' groups and City of Fairfield Mayor Mitch Rhodus. A flag retirement ceremony follows the program. fairfield-city.org.
Hamilton
Ceremony: 9:30 a.m., wreath-laying ceremony begins the day’s observance at the Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers monument, 1 S. Monument Ave.
Another ceremony will take place after the parade at 11:15 a.m. at Greenwood Cemetery, 1602 Greenwood Ave., Hamilton. The keynote speaker is Hamilton native and retired Brig. Gen. Lawrence E. Gillespie, who served in Vietnam as a pilot. The program includes singing of the national anthem, posting of colors, a 21-gun salute, patriotic music and playing of taps.
Parade: 10 a.m. Butler County Historic Courthouse, 101 High St., travels down High Street, Seventh Street, Heaton Avenue and ends at Greenwood Cemetery, 1602 Greenwood Ave., Hamilton.
Loveland
Parade: 9 a.m., begins at Loveland Elementary School, 600 Loveland Madeira Road, and ends at the Loveland Veterans’ Memorial, 211 Riverside Dr., Loveland.
Ceremony: Service immediately following parade, at Loveland Veterans’ Memorial. The ceremony will feature a speech from Colonel J. Scott Calder.
Mariemont
Parade: 8:30 a.m., begins at Parish Center, 3908 Plainville Road, Mariemont, and ends at the Municipal Building, 6907 Wooster Pike.
Ceremony: Following parade, Outstanding Citizen of the Year will be presented by Mayor Bill Brown. After, a wreath-placing will take place at the Veterans Monument at Memorial Grove Cemetery. mariemont.org.
Milford
Parade: 9:30 a.m., begins at American Legion Post 450, 11 Victor Stier Drive, Milford, and will continue to Memorial Park for a brief ceremony. Parade will end at Greenlawn Cemetery,
Ceremony: A brief ceremony will take place at Memorial Park. Then, a wreath-laying and ceremony will be held at Greenlawn Cemetery. Another ceremony will be held at St. Andrew Cemetery, 552 Main St., Milford.
Middletown
Parade: 10 a.m. parade begins at Smith Park, Tytus Avenue and Verity Parkway. Parade ends at Woodside Cemetery, 1401 Woodside Blvd., Middletown, led by grand marshal Paul Lloyd Hannah, a retired E5 petty officer second class in the United States Navy’s Seabees.
Ceremony: 11:30 a.m. at Woodside Cemetery, 1401 Woodside Blvd., Middletown. Stories of veterans' heroism will be shared as taps is played.
Montgomery
Ceremony: 3 p.m., Hopewell Cemetery, 10205 Montgomery Road, Montgomery. Master Sergeant Richard Schnitz plays taps as a part of Taps Across America. montgomeryohio.gov.
Sharonville
Ceremony: noon-12:30 p.m., Patriot Pointe, 10980 Thornview Drive, Sharonville. sharonville.org.
Spring Grove Village
Ceremony: 11 a.m., Spring Grove Cemetery, 4521 Spring Grove Ave., Spring Grove Village. Color Guard, talk by Dr. Richard Davis, Civil War Historian, wreath presentation, taps and the historic scattering of rose pedals on graves in the Civil War section. Presented by The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) and the Sister Anthony O’Connell Auxiliary to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (ASUVCW).
Springfield Township
Field of Memories at Arlington Memorial Gardens is on display beginning on Friday, May 24, in the Garden of Patriotism. The display of flags will be available from 9 a.m.-10 p.m. on Friday and remain accessible through Memorial Day.
9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday-Monday, Arlington Memorial Gardens, 2145 Compton Road., Springfield Township. amgardens.org.
1,000 Flag Display, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
911 Steel Traveling Display, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
Moment of silence, 3 p.m.
Posting of colors and musket salute, 3:05 p.m., by the Sons of the American Revolution
Reading of the names, 3:15 p.m.
Sycamore Township/Silverton
V.F.W. Post 6979 Parade: 10 a.m., begins at Silverton Veterans Memorial Park and ends at Bechtold Park, 4312 Sycamore Road, Sycamore Township.
Picnic: The Deer Park Silverton Joint Fire District will be hosting a grill out at the fire station located at 7050 Blue Ash Road, Silverton. sycamoretownship.org.
West Chester Township
Parade: 10 a.m.- noon, route through the historic Olde West Chester business district, parade ends at West Chester Cemetery, where flags are set to mark the graves of U.S. military veterans. While the parade is in motion, members of the West Chester-Union Township Historical Society read aloud the names of all veterans interred at the cemetery.
Ceremony: Following parade, at West Chester Cemetery, 6425 West Chester Road, West Chester. westchesteroh.org.
Northern Kentucky Memorial Day events
Edgewood
Ceremony: 10 a.m., Freedom Park, 550 Freedom Park Dr., Crestview Hills. edgewoodky.gov
Florence
Parade: 10 a.m., begins at Boone County High School, 7056 Burlington Pike, Florence, and will end at Florence Government Center, 8100 Ewing Blvd., Florence.
Ceremony: 11:30 a.m., or immediately following the parade at the Veterans Memorial to honor fallen heroes. florence-ky.gov.
Newport
Parade: 9 a.m. Parade route on Monmouth Street from East Sixth Street to East 10th Street. Ceremony at Newport City Municipal Building follows parade. Continental breakfast follows in first-floor multi-purpose room of city building. newportky.gov.
Park Hills
Parade: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Park Hills Police Department, 1106 Amsterdam Road, Park Hills. parkhillsky.net.
– Find more events at events.cincinnati.com –
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Memorial Day 2024: Parades, ceremonies, concerts in Cincinnati area
