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St. Louis-area towns to mark Memorial Day with parades, speakers

A boy carries a rose at a Vietnam Memorial Ceremony at the College of the Ozarks, near Branson.
Branson Convention and Visitors Bureau | Flickr

Cities throughout the St. Louis region will host parades and ceremonies this weekend in observance of Memorial Day.

In preparation for the holiday weekend, the Missouri Department of Transportation has suspended construction work on interstates and state highways. Construction will resume on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Memorial Day Parades and Ceremonies

Alton - Parade begins at 10 a.m. at Alton Middle School, 2200 College Ave. The parade, which bills itself as the “oldest consecutive running parade” in the U.S., celebrates its 151st anniversary this year. 

Belleville - Parade begins at 10 a.m. and will progress down South 2nd Street to East Main Street to Mascoutah Avenue, ending at Walnut Hill Cemetery. A ceremony at Walnut Hill Cemetery will immediately follow the parade. 

Fenton - Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at the Heroes Memorial in Fenton City Park, 1215 Larkin Williams Road.

Jefferson Barracks - Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, 2900 Sheridan Road, St. Louis County, and will feature retired U.S. Navy Commander Steven O’Black as a keynote speaker. Shuttle vans will be available to transport visitors from the Sheridan Road Metro commuter lot or the Jefferson Barracks VA Medical Center to the ceremony.

Kirkwood - Service will begin at 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Walkway, by City Hall, 139 South Kirkwood Road.

O’Fallon, Missouri - Ceremony begins at 11 a.m. at the O’Fallon Veterans Memorial Walk, 800 Veterans Memorial Parkway. Mayor Bill Hennessy will deliver opening remarks. 

St. Louis - The Compton Heights Memorial Band will perform a free concert of patriotic music at 3 p.m. in the band’s pavilion in Tower Grove Park, 4256 Magnolia Ave. The event will feature soloist Bob Ellison. 

St. Peters - The St. Peters Veterans Memorial Commission will host a remembrance ceremony at 10 a.m. at the St. Peters Memorial Veterans Memorial, One St. Peters Centre Blvd. The ceremony will include a performance of the National Anthem by the Fort Zumwalt East Band, a wreath ceremony and a 21-gun salute by AMVETS Post 106.

Follow Shahla on Twitter: @ShahlaFarzan

Shahla Farzan is a PhD ecologist and science podcast editor at American Public Media. She was previously a reporter at St. Louis Public Radio.