HADLEY — Sunday’s forecast for wet, cool weather is leading to the cancellation of the Memorial Day parades in both Hadley and Hatfield.
While the organizers in Hadley are calling off this year’s event, they are asking people to mark their calendars for the parade’s return on May 30, 2027.
Even with the parade off, veterans and the Hadley Fire Department honor guard will still visit each Hadley cemetery for a brief memorial ceremony, concluding at the Hadley American Legion. Those who might have watched the parade as a way to honor those who have died are encouraged to drop by one of those ceremonies, instead.
Following are the approximate times, with people reminded to arrive early in case the ceremonies gets ahead of schedule:
Russellville Cemetery, 442 River Drive, 11 a.m.; Plainville Cemetery 137 Mount Warner Road, 11:15 a.m.; Olde Hadley Cemetery 12 Cemetery Road, 11:40 a.m.; Hockanum Cemetery, 199 Hockanum Road, 12:05 p.m.; Holy Rosary Cemetery, 134 Huntington Road, 12:40 p.m.; North Hadley Cemetery, 254 River Drive, 1:10 p.m.; and Hadley American Legion, 162 Russell St., 1:40 p.m.
In Hatfield, the Memorial Day Ceremony is being moved to the auditorium at the Hatfield Elementary School, starting at 1 p.m. But the parade and cemetery visits are off.
The American Legion there will still hold is barbecue at the Lions Club Pavilion starting at 2:30 p.m.
Sunday’s forecast weather has also affected Mount Holyoke College’s commencement, which is being moved indoors to the Kendall Sports & Dance Complex at the South Hadley campus. That starts at 10:30 a.m., with degrees to be awarded to more than 500 bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates. The speaker will be Beverly Guy Sheftall, the founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College, the first women’s research center at a historically Black college and the first one to offer a women’s studies major.
