KENT, Conn.—Kent residents rose to the occasion Monday morning, refusing to let a soggy, wet weekend deny them the opportunity to pay respect to the nation’s warriors during Memorial Day ceremonies.
An overflow crowd packed itself into the foyer and large assembly room at Town Hall after the annual parade was cancelled. There, all elements of the traditional Kent observance were preserved, albeit in very tight quarters.
Three of the town’s pastors—Fr. Richard Clark of St. Andrew’s Church, Fr. Steve Klotz of South Kent School, and the Rev. John Heeckt of the First Congregational Church—offered prayers, and Brent Kallstrom, commander of the Hall-Jennings American Legion Post 153, acted as emcee for the program.
The Kent Center School band performed admirably under the leadership of longtime music teacher David Poirier, while Lara Barrett led the Junior Chorus in a spirited rendition of patriotic tunes.
Young Christian Bouchard was chosen to read the Gettysburg Address, an annual rendition of the seminal American document that is usually performed in front of the Civil War memorial at the intersection of route 7 and 341.
And, as tradition dictates for every Kent Memorial Day celebration, First Selectman Eric Epstein read the names of Kent veterans who have died in every war since the Civil War:
Civil War: Charles Herman Segar, William Barton, Almeron Burton, George H. McBrirney and Roderick Fitch
World War I: Harold Hall, Abraham Burhance and Frank Kinney
World War II: Donald Jennings, Russell Chase, Frank Chase, Leo Skalski and Henry Young
Korean War: John Olson
Vietnam War: Norman Stoddard, Jr. and Ivory Winship, Jr.
Former first selectman Marty Lindenmayer, a retired Naval officer, advised the group that plans are being laid to relocate the Veteran’s Memorial that sits next to Swift House on Maple Street, to the northwest corner of the Town Hall property.Â
Veterans Memorials were not erected prior to the Civil War—indeed, Memorial Day itself grew out of that great conflict—so there has never been a memorial to the 46 men from the town that service in the Revolution. Lindenmayer said the relocated memorial will honor those men as well.
He explained that the site adjacent to the Swift House is difficult to for residents to get to and is now crowded by trees. He announced that a fundraising campaign will be launched to raise the estimated $10,000 to complete the transition.
And Kallstrom invited the audience to attend next Saturday’s ceremony at Good Hill Cemetery to honor Dr. Oliver Fuller, who was a surgeon in the Revolutionary War. That ceremony will be held Saturday, May 30, at 11 a.m. at Good Hill Cemetery in North Kent.
Following the observances, townspeople adjourned to the Kent Land Trust field south of the village where the mood shifted from commemoration to celebration as the KLT welcomed residents to their annual community picnic.
Good food was served up by a cadre of volunteers, while local nonprofits manned booths and tables to explain their missions to visitors.
