When and where do Toms River, Freehold Memorial Day parades start? Get details here

Jean Mikle, Asbury Park Press
Updated ·2 min read

Toms River and Freehold, the county seats of Ocean and Monmouth counties, respectively, are planning Memorial Day parades to honor those who gave all in service to their country.

Toms River's annual Memorial Day parade is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 27, in downtown Toms River.

The parade is sponsored by George P. Vanderveer American Legion Post 129. It starts at the Toms River shopping center at routes 37 and 166, and marches south on Route 166 (Main Street) before heading east on Washington Street. A ceremony honoring America's war dead will be held in front of town hall, 33 Washington St.

Veterans groups, local high school bands and other community organizations plan to march in the parade.

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George P. Vanderveer of Berkeley was the first Ocean County resident to be killed in World War I. He was 19.
George P. Vanderveer of Berkeley was the first Ocean County resident to be killed in World War I. He was 19.

Vanderveer, for whom the American Legion post is named, was the first World War I casualty from Ocean County. He was only 19 when he died, on August 4, 1918, of the effects of "gas and shell shock" while attempting to recuperate at Fort Porter in Buffalo. He was the first of 75 Ocean County residents to make the ultimate sacrifice in World War I.

Navy Veteran John Lyman, Toms River, wears a replica Word War I uniform in honor of his grandfather as he marches along Washington Street during the Toms River Memorial Day Parade Monday, May 29, 2023. The parade and ceremony outside Town Hall honors America's war dead and is organized by American Legion Post 129 in the town.
Navy Veteran John Lyman, Toms River, wears a replica Word War I uniform in honor of his grandfather as he marches along Washington Street during the Toms River Memorial Day Parade Monday, May 29, 2023. The parade and ceremony outside Town Hall honors America's war dead and is organized by American Legion Post 129 in the town.

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Vanderveer, who grew up in Berkeley's Bayville section, is buried in Toms River's Riverside cemetery. He was a member of Company E, 24th U.S. Engineers in the U.S. Army.

Freehold will also host a Memorial Day Parade on May 27 in the borough's downtown, the 150th anniversary of the annual parade there.

The parade will step off from the corner of Brinkerhoff Avenue and Main Street at 10 a.m. There will be a flag-draped caisson that will leave the corner of Brinkerhoff Avenue and Main Street at 9:45 a.m., just ahead of the parade itself.

The parade, which will include up to 70 marching units and groups, will proceed down Main Street to the center of town. Units will then take the left fork onto Broadway and then turn left onto Murray Street. The parade will continue down Murray and take a left onto Schanck Street before turning right onto Monument Street and ending in the parking lot of the Monmouth County Courthouse.

Boy Scout Troop 18 of Freehold carries a large American flag along Main Street in Freehold Borough during the town's 142nd Memorial Day Parade in 2016.
Boy Scout Troop 18 of Freehold carries a large American flag along Main Street in Freehold Borough during the town's 142nd Memorial Day Parade in 2016.

Before the parade, a ceremony will be held at 8:30 a.m. at Elks Point in the downtown. The ceremony will include the reading of names of various service members from the Freehold area who were killed in action. For more information about the Memorial Day parade and other events, go to freeholdmemorialdayparade.com.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River, Seaside Heights, and several other Ocean County towns. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle,  jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River, Freehold Memorial Day parade starting times, locations