Verona’s Memorial Day parade will be held on Monday, May 30. The parade will begin at Everett Field, which is on Bloomfield Avenue between Westview and Elmwood roads, at 10 a.m. and then head west on Bloomfield Avenue to the center of town for a ceremony to remember the Veronans who died in service to their country, from the Civil War to Vietnam. Many of their names appear on monuments in the center of town and you can read about their service here. In 2015, Verona put markers on street signs near where each had lived in town.
Though it is Memorial Day, not Veterans Day, there will be an increased presence of Verona’s veterans in this year’s parade. Verona’s new manager, Joseph D’Arco, is a U.S. Army veteran. He used the township’s tax rolls to identify veteran home owners and sent each a letter inviting them to the parade. Township officials say that as many as 10 veterans will be participating in the parade and Mike Cerino, the CEO of DeCozen Chrysler Jeep Dodge, is making several cars available for those veterans who wish to ride to the center of town.
The grand marshal of this year’s parade is Fred Santoro, who has volunteered on the Verona Rescue Squad for more than 40 years.
