Flags wave proudly at Memorial Day event

SHARON — The threatening skies of Sunday night had disappeared by Monday morning and the weather was picture perfect for the 2009 Memorial Day observance.

As always, vintage motor cars, buffed to gleaming perfection, chugged gently through town, giving some of the very youngest and also some of the most senior parade participants a ride along Main Street. The automobile passengers tossed bits of wrapped candy out to children on the sidelines. They dashed out eagerly to collect the sweets.

A small dog also dashed out eagerly into the road at one point, barking at a horse that was pulling a surrey and three riders. The dog tumbled under the  hoofs of the larger animal and apparently broke a leg — a good reminder that pets need to be kept firmly in hand at public events such as this.

The Lions Club (and First SelectmanMalcolm Brown) handed out flags that old and young waved at each other and at the men and women and boys and girls who marched in the parade.

Master of ceremonies Bob Loucks thanked Charlie Paley for donating geraniums and invited Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to lay bouquets on the war memorial.

He introduced Doug Sitter, who has just returned from a year in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Navy Seabees.

And he reminded everyone that the Scouts had coolers full of free water and encouraged people to take a bottle now, “not in the ambulance later, after you’re already dehydrated.â€

After the Pledge of Allegiance and the raising of the flag, and an invocation by the Rev. Larry Dunlap, Loucks introduced speaker John Perotti, a Sharon native and a Vietnam veteran who was in Saigon during the Tet Offensive in 1968.

Perotti noted that for the first Memorial Day observances after the Civil War, “there were no barbecues, no picnics, no three-day weekends,â€only a nation mourning its lost soldiers.

As always, a mass photo of the ceremony was taken from the Clock Tower. To see the photo or obtain a copy, go online to Connecticutphoto.com and click on online photo; the guest password is Sharon. Proceeds from the sale of photos go to the fire department and ambulance squad.

The winners of the bicycle decoration contest this year were Mackenzie Ongley and Nick Medeiros.

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