Newton wrapped up Armed Forces Weekend with the Salute to Service Parade on Sunday marking America’s 250th birthday with veterans, color guards, marching bands, reenactors, civic organizations, and spectators along a route from City Hall to Coletti-Magni Park in Nonantum. Fig City News has photo galleries of this year’s parade from its start by City Hall to the finish in Nonantum.
The parade kicked off at 3PM and traveled down Walnut Street through Newtonville, turning right onto Washington Street, then left onto Adams Street before ending at the traditional reviewing stand at Coletti-Magni Park. The route, and the City Hall starting point, represented a departure from the Memorial Day parade of earlier years, which had begun at Newton North High School on the Sunday before Memorial Day.
This year’s event was moved up a week to coincide with Armed Forces Weekend and tied to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Mayor Marc Laredo’s office announced the change in early March, promising “additional features, floats, and new traditions.” The parade closed out the two-day Newton Family SpringFest at City Hall, which included a carnival, performance stage, and community art events on Saturday and Sunday.
A veteran motorcycle club led the procession with the Newton Police and Newton Fire Department honor guards followed, carrying the American flag, the POW/MIA flag, and the Massachusetts state flag. A mounted equestrian unit, Revolutionary-era reenactors in tricorn hats and continental uniforms, and a number of honored veterans rounded out the lead elements.
Floats and marching units reflected the parade’s dual themes of military service and the semiquincentennial. A Liberty Bell float and a Newton Schools float featuring George Washington and the Statue of Liberty under an “America 250th Anniversary” banner anchored the historical commemoration. A separate float carried older veterans in Legion caps beneath the inscription “All Gave Some, Some Gave All.” Paulie’s Push, the cross-country tribute honoring the flight crews of the four hijacked aircraft on September 11, also appeared.
Musical units included the Roma Band of Boston along with Cape Cod’s Colum Cille Pipes & Drums and a Brazilian-style samba drum corps. The Newton School Committee marched behind a Newton Public Schools banner. Newton Parks and Recreation and the LigerBots, Newton’s Robotics team, also took part, with its competition robot. The Nonantum business community was visible throughout, from St. Mary of Carmen Society vehicles to a “The Lake” Jeep flying Italian and American flags.
The parade is part of Massachusetts 250, the statewide commemoration coordinated by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, which lists hundreds of events across two years — from Revolutionary-era exhibits and reenactments to community celebrations. Newton’s parade was one of several MA250-tagged events the same weekend, alongside the Daughters of the American Revolution’s commemoration in Winthrop of Captain James Mugford and the 1776 Battle of Shirley Gut, a Revolutionary War encampment at Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven, and Sudbury 250 Day. Larger statewide anchor events are scheduled across the summer, including the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, the Battle of Gloucester reenactment, Sail Boston, and the Museum of Fine Arts’ “America at 250” reinstallation.
Newton will continue its Memorial Day observances the following weekend, with solemn services on Sunday, May 24 and Monday, May 25 to remember those who lost their lives in service to the nation.
