Memorial Day is just over a month away, but plans are currently under way for this year’s traditional parade.

According to Veterans Advisory Board Chair Chris Pereira, “all systems are go” to hold a parade similar to those in previous years.

Due to the pandemic, the annual event was canceled in 2020 and the town instead hosted a short wreath-laying and socially distanced ceremony at the Elm Street Cemetery.

Pereira said while he has not heard anything from the town saying otherwise, the board will check with the Select Board and the Board of Health to make sure the parade can fully happen come May 31. 

“I think we’re in good shape,” he said at an April 20 meeting. “I just wish we had more of a definitive plan.”

Under the state’s current reopening guidelines, up to 150 people are allowed to gather for outdoor events.

“If the Select Board says no [to the parade], we’ll be really disappointed, but we’ll respect what they say,” Pereiera said. 

Board Member Joseph Toomey said that either way, the VFW is prepared to hold a wreath laying ceremony in Padanaram.

“We do have the wreaths,” he said, noting that they are currently stored in the VFW’s basement.

Toomey added that on May 29, the VFW Post 9059 Auxiliary will place flags around the graves of those who served.

More details on Covid safety and other plans for Memorial Day will be determined at the next Veteran’s Advisory Board meeting at an as-yet undecided date in May.