(Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler)
Cloudy skies and scattered showers periodically interrupted what could have been a warm and sunny spring day. But hundreds of spectators still gathered along the parade route last Saturday (May 24) for Saugus’ Annual Memorial Day Parade, which was coordinated by the Saugus Veterans Council with assistance from the Town of Saugus. The parade began at Anna Parker Field, traveled down Essex Street toward Cliftondale Square, down Lincoln Avenue, onto Central Street, to Winter Street and into Riverside Cemetery for the Memorial Day Ceremonies. Wakefield native Shelby M. Nikitin, the former Naval commander of the guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, was this year’s keynote speaker. Radio listeners around Greater Boston who were tuned into WMEX 1510 AM out of Quincy got to hear the parade and ceremony at Riverside Cemetery live for the second consecutive year. Saugus TV Studio Associate John Prudent again prepared a special Memorial Day video capturing Saugus veterans, which was displayed on a truck that traveled in the parade. Guy Moley, the man behind local charity car shows, arranged to have a collection of classic cars in the parade. Those were this year’s highlights.