The Otsego School of Dance will perform “Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”, during the New Berlin Memorial Parade. The Parade and Honors Ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m., Monday, May 26, at Main Street in the Village of New Berlin. (Submitted photo)

NEW BERLIN — The New Berlin Memorial Day Parade and Honors Ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m., Monday, May 26, at Main Street in the Village of New Berlin.

The Memorial Day activities will include a parade, guest speakers, musical and dance performances, wreath laying, and taps, and a picnic in the park.

“Memorial Day is a day to recognize those who “raised their right hand” and stepped forward to support and defend the American Way of Life,” said Village of New Berlin Mayor Peter Lennon.

Lennon, is a retired Army Major 2-star General who served from 1977 through 2017 and held a variety of senior command and logistics positions around the globe.

“This day we honor those heroes who paid the ultimate sacrifice with a “celebration of life” for them and a remembrance and tribute to the America they fought for,” Lennon said.

At about 9:30, the Otsego School of Dance will perform in the parade starting at Main and West Genesee Streets under the traffic light.

Additional parade participants will include local Veterans, First Responders, Clubs and Sport Teams, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Unadilla Valley Central School Band, and more.

The Unadilla Valley Central School Choir will sing the National Anthem at 10 a.m., on the field in front of the Milford Academy, and after, there will be an Honors Ceremony with Master of Ceremonies, Michael Acre, US Air Force, Retired and Guest Speaker Erich Luther, US Army, Retired.

“This day is different from Veterans Day when we honor all who served or are serving the military,” Lennon explained. “This day, members of the Military Family lead our nation in a tribute to their brothers and sisters in uniform who paid the ultimate price in defense of the unique Concept we know of as “America” and the Families they left behind.”

The final event in the honors ceremony will be a wreath laying by the Legion Commander at the flag pole and monument on the terraces of the academy.

“The wreath is placed in honor of those community members who were in the military from World War 1 to the present and have since passed away- it will be followed by the blowing of “Taps” by renowned local musician Amy Hoxie,” Lennon said.

Free water and Lemonade will be offered at the ceremonial site prior to and after the Honors Ceremony, as a courtesy of Curtis Lumber and Chobani will offer free yogurt drinks at the conclusion.

After the ceremony, the American Legion will offer free hot dogs, hamburgers and a salad at the Legion building on Academy Street.

Columbus House will be selling their half-chicken meal options in the Milford Academy parking lot. Pre-orders should be placed by calling the Public House at 607-847-8422.