Issue Four Summer 2020

The Traditions of Memorial Day
Continue in Nahant
When Richard Lombard,
the 2020 Memorial
Day parade
Grand Marshal,
United States Marine
Corps and Vietnam
Veteran, tossed the
wreath from the Nahant
Wharf into the
surrounding waters
to commemorate and
honor those who lost
their lives at sea in
service to our country,
he was carrying
on a long tradition of
Memorial Day in Nahant.
This year’s ceremonial
hand-made
wreath, donated by
the Nahant Garden
Club (made from Ivy,
Climbing Hydrangea,
and white and
red Geraniums), has
its own long history. In the 1970s a wreath was dropped
at the Wharf from a private airplane manned by Winthrop
Sears and pilot Lee Trenholm. At that time, the gun salute
was provided by the National Guard, firing 3 rounds from a
howitzer. (It was difficult to maintain a salute, standing at
attention, without jumping each time the cannon sounded!)
Around 1976, Richard Lombard arranged for a military helicopter,
manned by active duty pilots, to drop the wreath.
When given the signal from a fire truck at the Wharf, the
chopper took off from Bailey’s Hill to carry out its mission
in such a way as to cause nearby spectators to duck for cover!
The plane/helicopter wreath drop at the Wharf was discontinued
when air clearance was denied.
Nahant Magazine | 8
By Molly Conlin
This year, the restrictions brought about by the coronavirus
pandemic brought another change in the manner in
which Nahant observed Memorial Day. The Memorial Day
committee consulted with Town Administrator Tony Barletta,
Administrative
Assistant Bobbie-Jo
Blair, Public Health
Nurse Deborah
Murphy and Nahant
Police Chief Robert
Dwyer. The difficult
decision was made
to cancel the 133rd
Nahant Memorial
Day parade, for the
health and safety of
the Town residents.
However, the tradition
continues: each
of the following memorial
services were
conducted earlier in
May, pre-recorded
and aired on Nahant
TV and Facebook on
Memorial Day:
(a) the memorial
service at the Town
Wharf, (b) the memorial
service in the
Greenlawn Cemetery, including the recitation of the Gettysburg
Address and the reading of the names of the veterans
who have died this year, with the ringing of the bell after
each name, and (c) the conclusion of the events at the Nahant
Life Saving Station, where members of American Legion
Post 215 raised the American flag as the national anthem
played.
Not even a pandemic could interfere with the annual
wreath-dropping ceremony, and the other time-honored
traditions, which remain an integral part of Memorial Day
in Nahant.
Long-time Nahant resident Molly Conlin served as a Naval
Nurse in the United States Navy Reserve, and was on active
duty at the United Naval Reserve Medical Center San Diego
(informally referred to as Balboa Hospital) from 1966-1968.
She joined the Nahant American Legion Post 215 in the
1970s, and has served as a Past Commander