Syosset's Memorial Day parade went off this year without a hitch. When residents were left rain-soaked during last year's parade, everyone was excited to see the sunshine and warm weather on Monday morning. This year the VFW was the official host, as they alternate each year with the American Legion.

Mother Nature listened to Gus Scutari, a member of the VFW and parade coordinator, and his requests for nice weather. The rain held out long enough to allow residents to enjoy the parade and festivities to celebrate Memorial Day.

Participants started at Variety Children's Learning Center on Humphrey Drive and marched north on Jackson Avenue, crossed the railroad tracks into downtown Syosset, where it concluded at the Berry Hill Road intersection.

As always, the VFW and American Legion officers commanded and led the parade. Many groups were present including the Syosset Baseball Association, Syosset Chamber of Commerce, Residents for a More Beautiful Syosset, Syosset Youth Cheerleading and Football Squad, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies, Daisy troops, local churches, Knights of Columbus, bands from the high school and two middle schools, the Nassau Suffolk Horseman's Association of Rough Riders and last but not least the Syosset Fire Department.

According to Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, Memorial Day came into being in 1868 when John Logan, Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued an order fixing May 30 "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in the defense of their country in the late rebellion." From this, Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, as it also came to be called, grew into a national holiday that honors soldiers killed in all wars. By an Act of Congress, Memorial Day was later moved to the last Monday in May, which only served to take away from its intended purpose as a day to remember America's war dead.

"The ranks of the veterans groups, which have always been at the forefront of Memorial Day observances, are shrinking because most of them are veterans of World War II and Korea, who are getting older, and there are not many young men and women joining to replace them," Supervisor Venditto stated. "As a result, each year, the Memorial Day parades get fewer and smaller and the size of the crowds also dwindles a bit more. But, that does not make Memorial Day any less significant and, perhaps, makes our responsibility to remember it even more important. Also, with the conflicts in the Iraq and Afghanistan, new names have been inscribed on the list of those who died in the service of our country, and they deserve to be remembered by us all for making the supreme sacrifice."

The sense of community was in Syosset on Monday as everyone came together to march and pay their respects and remember the fallen veterans.