Families and cadets honored fallen soldiers interred at Quabbin Park Cemetery by placing wreaths.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre
WARE — On May 26, the public and representatives from local organizations celebrated Memorial Day weekend at Quabbin Park Cemetery in Ware by honoring Revolutionary War patriots interred at the cemetery.
The ceremony was conducted by the Veterans Council of Belchertown with support from the Friends of Quabbin, Inc and included participation from Northampton’s Betty Allen Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the Duxbury Chapter of the NSDAR.
Reminder Publishing photos by Ryan Feyre
According to Cher Nicholas, the program chair for Betty Allen 250! and a coordinator of this event, the Betty Allen Chapter and Duxbury Chapter of NSDAR received NSDAR America 250! Celebration grants for special markers to be placed at the Quabbin Park Cemetery to honor the patriots buried there and to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, which is coming up in 2026, Nicholas added.
“It’s been really an exciting time because not only have the chapters had an opportunity to work together, and that’s been really, really great,” said Nicholas, who added that the Betty Allen and Duxbury chapters worked on this special ceremony for the past year-and-a-half. “But also, we’ve been able to understand the history of the American Revolutionary Patriots, who they were, what their names were and especially their stories.”
The Memorial Day weekend celebration included a short parade that featured veterans’ organizations, historical societies, local state lawmakers and members of the NSDAR organizations.
During the ceremony, families and cadets from the Naval ROTC program at Quabbin Regional High School commemorated veterans from the four Swift River Valley communities by placing memorial wreaths at their headstones. The four communities, which were all disincorporated and submerged in 1938 after the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir, include Enfield, Dana, Prescott and Greenwich.
According to Nicholas, the Quabbin Park Cemetery has hosted a Memorial Day ceremony since 1947 to commemorate veterans from these four communities, but this year’s is special because they are also honoring the Revolutionary War patriots.
The ceremony also included an unveiling of a new memorial honoring the Revolutionary War patriots interred in the Quabbin Park Cemetery.
Many local lawmakers, including State Sen. Jacob Oliveira (D-Ludlow) and State Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton), provided some remarks in celebration of the event.
