Always remember. Never forget. Repay with respect.
Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer and a great excuse to barbecue, but it’s also a time to honor service members, especially those who died while defending the United States, and their family members. Countless Queens natives have made the ultimate sacrifice over the years and the Woodside zip code (11377) lost more soldiers during the Vietnam War than any other in the entire United States.
Here’s a chronological list of parades, religious services, ceremonies, and other related events. It will be updated as more information becomes available.
Thursday, May 22
The Dermody Triangle Memorial Day Ceremony begins at 48th Avenue and 216th Street at 7:30 pm. The Bayside Historical Society and the Bayside Hills Civic Assotiation organize this annual wreath-laying in remembrance of Captain William C. Dermody, a local man who served in the Civil War. Company K of the 67th NY Infantry and the Boy Scout Troop 49 also participate.
Saturday, May 24
The Bayside Hills Civic Association’s annual observance is set for Memorial Mall flagpole at Bell Boulevard and 53rd Avenue at 9:30 am.
By the lake in Maple Grove Cemetery, Scout Troop 177 and Pack 177 will play Taps and read the names of all 79 Killed-In-Action heroes who are buried in the Kew Gardens resting place at 11 am. They will also read the names of the 27 KIA heroes from the Kew Gardens World War II monument. In case of rain, the two-hour event, which is sponsored by Friends of Maple Grove, will take place in Celebration Hall.
Plus, Maple Grove will provide flags for volunteers to place at veterans’ gravesites from May 12 to May 23. All are invited to help.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
The Forest Hills tribute begins with an informal gathering outside American Legion Continental Post 1424 at 107-15 Metropolitan Ave. at 11 am. Then at noon, the procession goes west on Metropolitan to Alderton Lane, where a right turn leads to Remsen Family Cemetery for a wreath-laying. All New York State community and civic groups are welcome to march, and several bands will play music as strollers make their way down Metropolitan Avenue.
The Maspeth march starts at Walter A. Garlinge Memorial Park at 72nd Place and Grand Avenue at 1 pm. It ends at Maspeth Memorial Park at 69th Street and Grand Avenue. This year, Maspeth Federal Savings President and CEO Thomas Rudzewick is the grand marshal.
With the theme “Lest We Ever Forget,” the College Point Citizens’ Memorial Day Parade lines up in the vicinity of 26th Avenue near the MTA bus station and police academy at 1:30 pm. After a 2 pm start, it proceeds north with three marching bands to a reviewing stand at MacNeil Park on Poppenhusen Avenue.
Monday, May 26
The 36th annual Laurelton parade kicks off at Merrick and Francis Lewis boulevards at 9 am. It ends at the Veteran Memorial Triangle at 225th Street and North Conduit Avenue. The New York Alliance Drumline and the Medical Cadets Corps Second Battalion are among several participating groups.
The 94th annual Little Neck/Douglaston observance, which is among the biggest in the entire country, features a full morning of related activities. First up is an interfaith service at St. Anastasia Church at 45-14 245th St. at 10 am. Immediately afterward, a wreath-laying is scheduled at the Veterans Monument and Flagpole at the edge of the church’s parking lot by Alameda Avenue and Northern Boulevard. As always, the parade steps off from 249-01 Northern Blvd. at 2 pm.
The third annual Saluting Our Heroes program begins at Elmhurst’s Nine Heroes Plaza in the vicinity of Broadway, 76th Street and 41st Avenue at 10 am. Sponsored by the Newtown Civic Association and the Elmhurst History & Cemeteries Preservation Society, participants then head to Elmhurst Memorial Hall at 88-24 43rd Ave. for a second wreath-laying.
In Rockaway, the American Legion and Auxillary’s Daniel M. O’Connell Post 272’s Memorial Day Parade starts after a special 10:30 am Mass at St. Francis de Sales Church at 129-16 Rockaway Beach Blvd. After a wreath-laying at the Four Chaplains Monumnet, the procession goes north on Beach 120 Street to the Boardwalk and then Doughboy and Doughrild Monuments at Beach 95th Street.
The Woodside Memorial Day Parade starts at 11 am, but St. Sebastian Church holds an annual Remembrance Mass at 10 am. After a gun salute at the Vietnam Memorial at 57th Street and Woodside Avenue, the march heads to the Catholic War Veterans Post 870 at Roosevelt Avenue and 61st Street. Then it’s on to Woodside Memorial Park at Woodside Avenue and 61st Street and Doughboy Park at Woodside Avenue and 54th Street..
The 88th annual Ridgewood/Glendale procession alternates direction every year, but it always begins at 11 am. In 2025, the flow goes from Glendale to Ridgewood on Myrtle Avenue. So the step-off is the Glendale Memorial Triangle at Cooper Avenue and the end point is Ridgewood Veterans Triangle at Cypress Avenue. The main organizer is the Allied Veterans Memorial Committee of Ridgewood and Glendale.
The Whitestone Veterans Memorial Association‘s ritual steps off from Whitestone Memorial Park on 149th Street between 16th Road and 15th Drive at 11 am.
The Rosedale activity starts at 243rd Street between Mayde Road and 145th Avenue at 11 am. The event includes a wreath-laying at Memorial Square on Sunrise Highway.
Editor’s note: It is believed that parades are planned for Howard Beach, Rockaway Beach, Woodhaven, and Boulevard Gardens in Woodside, but the It’s In Queens website couldn’t confirm the details. If you have any information, please send it to [email protected].
