Mayor Dr. Joseph P. Scarpelli and the Board of Commissioners have announced plans for the Township’s 102nd Annual Memorial Day Parade. The parade will be held on Monday, May 29, 2023. Weather permitting, the Nutley War Memorial Remembrance Ceremony will start at 7:30am at the VFW Post 493. Following the Remembrance Ceremony, the Township will gather to honor Nutley’s fallen firefighters at the Public Safety Building at 10:30am. The Memorial Day Parade opening ceremonies and welcome will begin at 11:00am at the Park Oval.

The parade route is the same as previous years – Chestnut Street to Passaic Avenue to Centre Street to Franklin Avenue, with the reviewing stage in front of John H. Walker Middle School. Rev. Pamela Bakal will offer the prayer at the opening ceremonies and this year’s Grand Marshal is Daniel Jacoby.

“The Memorial Day Parade serves as a tribute to honor all of our U.S. service men and women who selflessly and valiantly gave their lives to protect our freedom and liberty,” said Mayor Scarpelli.

The 102nd Memorial Day Weekend activities begin on Sunday, May 28. The Nutley Historical Society will sponsor “A Walk in the Park,” a tour led by Nutley Museum director John Simko. The tour begins at 9:00am in Memorial Park at the Mud Hole (near the intersection of Passaic Avenue and Vreeland Avenue) and travels along the Third River. Mr. Simko will discuss the river’s role in Nutley’s history as a source for early industry, as inspiration for world-renowned artists, as a symbol of civic pride, as an important boundary marker, and as a fitting memorial to our war veterans.

Visit the sites of three former mills and the pre-Revolutionary War Van Giesen homestead, find out why the Third River is split in two, learn about the beginnings of our hundred-year-old Carnegie Library and even older Town Hall, and walk through one of Nutley’s oldest cemeteries.  “A Walk in the Park” ends at 10:30am inside Nutley’s first brick schoolhouse (now the Nutley Historical Society and Museum). The museum will be open to the public, and tour-related items from our archives will be on display. Please join us at the Nutley Museum (65 Church Street) at 10:30am Sunday morning, even if you are not part of the tour.

“A Walk in the Park” is free but is limited to 15 people and requires registration. You can register for the tour by emailing johnsimko1014@gmail.com or by calling 973-752-8984 and leaving a message with your phone number or e-mail address. You will receive confirmation via e-mail or a phone call. The rain date is Monday, May 29 at 9:00am.

The Board of Commissioners will be inviting family members of soldiers, both past and present, to march in the parade, and is collecting names of those in our community who are currently serving. These names will be added to an already existing banner which will proudly be carried throughout the parade, and then displayed on the Nutley Park Oval fence outside of the Town Hall.

“Memorial Day is a day we put aside to honor our fallen heroes and pray that no heroes will ever again have to make the ultimate sacrifice protecting our nation,” concluded Mayor Scarpelli.