Memorial Day events in the Madison area

On Saturday, rows of tiny gravestones were be set up along Atwood Avenue in Olbrich Park, markers of the Memorial Mile placed by volunteers with Madison Veterans for Peace. On Monday, the organization will observe the holiday with a 1 p.m. program at the Wisconsin Masonic Center, 301 Wisconsin Ave., featuring commentary from Vietnam veteran Will Williams and keynote speaker Susan Schnall as well as red carnations for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument. The Memorial Mile display will stand until May 30, when it will be removed from 9 to 11 a.m. The organization is seeking volunteers to help take-down.

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will gather at 8 a.m. Monday for a ceremony at Union Rest in Forest Hill Cemetery, 1 Speedway Road, Madison. This ceremony will be brief, allowing time for attendees to make it Downtown for the Madison Veterans Council’s annual ceremony, being held at the state Capitol for the first time in six years.

The Monday ceremony at the Capitol will focus on honoring those who died while serving in the Armed Forces, as well as inducting 256 Dane County veterans who have died since last Memorial Day into this year’s Honor Roll. The VFW Post 1318 band will welcome community members with a prelude concert at 9:15 a.m. near the West Washington Avenue side of the Capitol, followed by the formal ceremony at 10 a.m.

American Legion Post 151 will also host its annual Avenue of Flags Memorial Day program from 2 to 3 p.m. Monday at Sunset Memory Gardens, 7302 Mineral Point Road. Here, the fallen will be recognized with a prayer, the placement of a memorial wreath, an address by a National Guard officer, a rifle squad and the playing of taps. Bring your own chair.

In Cambridge, the 10:30 a.m. Memorial Day parade along Main Street on Monday will begin in the sky, with a special Marine Corps Osprey flyover. Fill up all morning with the Cambridge Volunteer Fire Department’s pancake breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to noon Monday. The day’s events will continue with a memorial ceremony at Veterans Park, featuring a picnic where veterans eat free, a duck race, an ice cream truck and live music.

Fitchburg’s Memorial Day observance will be held at Veterans Park at Gorman Wayside, 2377 S. Fish Hatchery Road, on Monday. The ceremony will begin with music by the VFW Post 1318 band at 12:15 p.m., playing into the 12:30 p.m. program featuring remarks from Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Marcia Anderson, a Beloit native whose 36 years of Army service saw her become the first African American woman confirmed as a major general in Army history.

Monona’s annual Memorial Day parade, slated for Monday, will begin at Monona Grove High School at 10 a.m. and roll through the city to Sennett Middle School, ending around noon. Afterward, community members are invited to join VFW Post 7591 in services at the post, Blooming Grove Cemetery, Roselawn Cemetery, Highland Memorial Cemetery and Madison’s Veterans Memorial Park.

Cross Plains area veterans are being honored with an 11 a.m. parade down Park Street on Monday from Plastic Ingenuity to American Legion Post 245, where they’ll sell chicken dinner tickets starting at 11:30 a.m., with a Memorial Day program at 11:45 a.m., face painting beginning at noon, chicken dinners served 12:15 p.m. and music and games with DJ Jake the Snake from 1 to 4 p.m. 

American Legion Post 534 will be handling McFarland’s Memorial Day ceremonies. Monday will begin with 10-minute ceremonies beginning at 8 a.m. at American Legion Park, heading to the Lower Cemetery at Broadhead and Marsh, the Cemetery at Broadhead and Holscher and the Town of Dunn Cemetery. Then, set out a blanket or a chair on Main Street, where the Memorial Day parade will proceed from Christ the King Church from noon to around 1 p.m.

DeForest will be observing the holiday with a free 11:45 a.m. ceremony Monday focused on women in the military at Veterans Memorial Park, 209 N. Main St.

Two ceremonies and an American flag display are on the schedule for Middleton's Memorial Day activities. VFW Post 8216 will host a remembrance ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Monday at St. Peter’s Catholic Parish Cemetery and at 11:30 a.m. at Lakeview Park.

Stoughton will begin its Memorial Day programming with a parade from South Prairie Street to The Mandt Center at 10 a.m. Monday, where community members can observe a commemorative ceremony. Afterward, head to VFW Post 328 for a reception and cookout.

There will be a combined American Legion Post 333 and VFW 9362 ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday at the Sun Prairie Veterans Memorial near VFW 9362 at 349 S. Walker Way (inside the VFW in the case of inclement weather). The city's annual Memorial Day Parade was canceled this year due to uncertainty about road construction.

As it was last year, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Downtown Madison is closed on Memorial Day.