Umbrellas were raised along with the flags as families joined veterans in a solemn march down Main Street during during Barrington’s rainy 2015 Memorial Day Parade.
Each year I’m so moved by how many people turn out for Barrington’s parade to walk beside local veterans in honor of our country’s fallen soldiers.
From Girl Scouts to Cub Scouts to the Barrington High School marching band, watching this show of respect and gratitude from Barrington’s youngest residents is beautiful to see. It reminds me of the powerful call to action from the 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields“, written for a soldier’s funeral during World War I.
An Excerpt from “In Flander’s Fields”
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Barrington’s Memorial Day Parade begins at the Veteran’s Memorial on Cook & Station Streets and makes its way down Main Street to Evergreen Cemetery on Dundee Avenue where everyone gathers for a brief ceremony to honor those who have fallen in the line of duty.
This year we produced a video to accompany our photos sharing the spirit of Barrington’s Memorial Day Parade. Here’s a closer look at the sights, sounds and local voices, courtesy of 365BarringtonTV’s Tommy Derken.
For more images from the parade, enjoy these photos courtesy of photographers Gus Goetze and Bob Lee. (Click on individual photos to enlarge and/or start the slideshow.) We share this gallery with the deepest thanks to those who have sacrificed to protect our way of life.
