by John Osborn ·
Friday, May 29, 2026
Retired Army Col. Sandy Chapman reads General Order 11 by Major General John A. Logan that designated May 30, 1868, as Decoration Day—a precursor to Memorial Day—as a day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers. Despite a light rain, the Memorial Day Parade kicked off at 10 a.m., May 25, and hearty residents followed along the route. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
The skies wept as this year’s Memorial Day ceremonies got underway. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jon Schoenberg, master of ceremonies, scrolled through radar images on his phone looking for a break in the rain that blanketed the area. Parade marchers waited for a decision under the dripping roof of the Town Hall porch. On the Common, members of the Nashoba Valley Concert Band erected canopies to shelter the ensemble from the downpour. Spectators with umbrellas and rain gear drifted toward the Civil War monument.
To begin at 10 a.m. or to wait 30 minutes, as the Fire Department had urged—that was the question. “It’s not going to get any better,” said Schoenberg.
“If it’s not raining, it’s not training,” said Retired Army Maj. Duane Barber, quoting an Army mantra and drawing chuckles.
Shortly before the hour, Schoenberg made his decision: It was time to march. As the town clock struck 10, a 12-member color guard, each a veteran, set off down Ayer Road, followed by firefighters, EMTs, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts. Schoenberg had suggested older veterans might wish to join the procession at the Civil War monument, but a majority insisted the parade start at Town Hall.
Harvard’s Memorial Day is a community event made familiar by repetition-—a respectful pause before the start of summer to honor those who died while serving in the U.S. military.
The tradition began in 1868 when Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Orders No. 11, declaring May 30 a day to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers with flowers, a date chosen because at that time flowers nationwide would be in full bloom. The date was moved to the last Monday in May by Congress in 1971.
As it does every year, Harvard’s parade stopped first at the town’s Civil War monument and then continued to the Founders memorial in Center Cemetery. Next came the World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Gulf War monuments on the Common, followed by a stop at the World War I memorial and flagpole. At each memorial a veteran laid a wreath and a trumpeter played taps, the country’s national song of remembrance.
Following a ceremony at the World War I memorial, a smaller contingent continued to the Still River memorial to Roger Skillings, who was killed in action during the Korean War. This was followed by a tour of veterans’ graves at Bellevue Cemetery and the laying of a wreath at the flagpole near its entrance memorializing “All Veterans of All Wars.”
Finally, parade members reconvened at the Shaker Cemetery on South Shaker Road. Because the cemetery has no memorial, no wreath was placed there, but retired Army Maj. Nancy Cronin had already placed potted geraniums on the graves of the eight Revolutionary War veterans buried there. Earlier, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts had distributed geraniums at the graves of veterans buried in Center and Bellevue cemeteries.
A reading of Logan’s 1868 order at the town’s 1888 Civil War monument is a Harvard tradition, delivered this year by retired Army Col. Duncan Chapman. Rachel Fletcher, a member of the Nashoba Valley band and a teacher at Ayer Shirley Regional High School, was this year’s trumpeter, playing taps at each stop.
The main ceremony was held at the World War I monument, where Jon Schoenberg read a prayer, Barber laid a wreath, and the band played the national anthem. A medley of songs from the various branches of the military followed, including the Navy’s “Anchors Aweigh,” the Army’s “Caissons Go Rolling Along,” the Marines’ “From the Halls of Montezuma,” and the Air Force’s “Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder.”
Schoenberg delivered a short address to the few dozen residents who had gathered nearby despite the rain, which had by now moved on. “As a community, we sent our loved ones off to war, watching them disappear out of sight, knowing it may very well have been the last we saw of them,” he said.
“This has been a stark reality for families in our town,” he continued. “So, too, have been the telegrams, the middle-of-the-night phone calls, and the chaplain standing at the front door of the next of kin to tell them their loved one has been killed or died in the line of duty.”
“Our way of life has been shaped and made possible by those who have served—and by those who were lost,” Schoenberg said, before reciting the names of the seven Harvard citizens who have died in military service since the Civil War.
Schoenberg also thanked, to warm applause, Nancy Cronin and her recently deceased husband, retired U.S. Army Maj. Steve Cronin, for their years of service as leaders of the town’s annual Memorial and Veterans Day ceremonies. He said Nancy Cronin had guided him this year as he assumed the couples' responsibilities.
Veterans agent and retired Army Sgt. Mike Cotillion then read the names of the five Harvard veterans who died since Memorial Day 2025: U.S. Army veterans Charles Carroll, Thomas Callahan, Carlton Noyes, and Steven Cronin; and U.S. Navy veteran Laurence Bedell Jr. Each was acknowledged by the tolling of a bell by Boy Scout Michael Daniello.
For many the day began with a pancake breakfast at the Fellowship Hall of the Unitarian Church. Organizer Greg Stoddard said, as he does every year, that the event is “for the community.” By 9 a.m., the hall was packed and helpers had to roll out an eighth table to accommodate the crowd.
Stoddard and Barbara Kemp noted that cooks had traditionally followed a special recipe by the event’s founder, Ed Pieters, but this year they had prepared two batches of batter using a King Arthur Flour recipe, “Pancakes for a crowd,” enough to feed 300. The breakfast, which included coffee, orange juice, and sausages, was free. Donations were encouraged and will be used to defray the cost, and also support Clearpath for Veterans and the activities of the church.
Jacob Neiss (left) and his mom Kerry Maxwell get ready to dig in at the pancake breakfast to kick off Memorial Day events.
Greg Stoddard (left) helps out as Barbara Kemp whips up more pancake batter.