Sterling Meetinghouse News

By Danielle Ray, Senior Reporter
An energy of gratefulness to finally be gathered together again as well as somber respect was palpable at the annual Memorial Day parade and observance ceremony held on May 31. Over 100 people gathered for the event that was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including veterans, active military, police, fire, state and local officials, Boy Scouts, area residents, and more.
“It was heartwarming to see such a large turn out today,” said longtime town resident Patrick O’Connor, a Senior Master Sargeant in the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
Select Board Chair Maureen Cranson spoke at the event along with state representatives John Cronin and Meg Kilcoyne.
“We pause to honor those that did not return to loving arms of family and friends,” Cranson said. “It is only fitting that we pause.”
This is the seventh year longtime Hiram O. Taylor American Legion Post 189 member and Adjutant Robert Temple has organized the parade.
“It was certainly heartwarming that we could all gather together and observe Memorial Day together again,” Temple said.
American Legion Worcester County District Four Commander Scott Connor was the keynote speaker, and eighth grade Boy Scout Rory Lundgren read the Gettysburg Address.
“We make this day of remembrance a solemn one,” Connor said. “Freedom isn’t free.”
Cronin said he was glad to be a part of the event.
“This is the first parade I’ve been to in what feels like 100 years,” he said.
Members of the Al Youngman Band, who play at the Memorial and Veterans Day parades in town every year, tapped their toes as they performed many patriotic songs during the parade and inside the First Church in Sterling auditorium, including all of the military branch service songs and hymns such as Anchors Away and the Marine’s Hymn.
O’Connor, who has served for 36 years and is a Flight Chief in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, recently returned home to his wife and their two daughters after being deployed for two months in Washington D.C. for Operation Capitol Response II. He said it was uplifting to have such a great turnout for the town’s Memorial Day event.
“All along the Sterling parade route, there were neighbors clapping and saluting as we marched by,” he said. “At each stop, when we delivered our three-volley salute and played taps in tribute to our fallen, all observers were solemn and respectful. I can picture what happened this morning in Sterling occurring all over our great nation today, in small towns and big cities, and my heart swells with pride.”