Rain Impacts NH Seacoast’s Memorial Day Commemorations
Rain could not stop most Memorial Day events on the Seacoast on Monday.
After most parades were canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, commemorations were back in person despite the weather.
"This Memorial Day town commons across our great state will not be silent. There will be no virtual wreath layings or flags waving. People will gather again to remember those who gave their lives to preserve our freedoms," officials at the New Hampshire National Guard wrote on its Twitter account.
The city of Portsmouth moved their ceremony to the second floor of the American Legion Hall located at 96 Islington Street. It was scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
The parade in Wells was canceled due to the weather.
The city of Dover went ahead with their ceremony at the Pine Hill Cemetery hosted by Dover's Woodman Museum.
Over 500 flags were on display at Rochester Common according to contributors to the Facebook group You KNOW you're from Rochester, NH if you... They were in the Field of Honor.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, was scheduled to speak at a ceremony there on Monday morning.
"On Memorial Day, we come together to honor the generations of brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. Throughout our history, as our fellow Americans put on their uniforms and traveled far from home, they knew the risks before them," Hassan said in a statement.
Hassan called those being honored brave individuals who knew that their mission was paramount to freedom and democracy.
"They fought for those with whom they shared much in common, but also for those with whom they had significant differences," Hassan said.
Hassan, along with fellow Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, and Gov. Chris Sununu, R-NH, attended a ceremony at the state Veterans Cemetary in Boscawen on Sunday.
"It was an honor to return to the NH Veterans Cemetery this year & join veterans & military families to pay tribute to the fallen Granite Staters who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. We must never forget the memory, patriotism & courage of these heroes," Shaheen said in a statement on her Twitter account.
"This Memorial Day, we remember those who have served to protect the freedoms and liberties we hold dear. I was honored to pay tribute to our brave service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation at the NH Veterans Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremony yesterday," Sununu said on his Twitter account.
Former President George W. Bush joined members of American Legion Post 159 for a ceremony in Kennebunkport.
The rainy weekend also made for an early ride home as Route 95 was slow by noon on Monday from the Wells area at exit 19 to the Hampton tolls the exception being the bridge over the Piscataqua River.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH