Waterloo and The Birthplace of Memorial Day

We spent two weeks visiting Waterloo N.Y. and the Seneca Lake area, especially the numerous wineries and pop-up breweries. Waterloo is a historic town replete with old buildings and homes looking like a throwback from decades ago. Lin and I decided to take in the local Memorial Day festivities downtown to get a sense of locals and their entertainment. It didn’t disappoint, in fact it was a fun afternoon! Town Square had a vendor’s market set up for a shopper’s delight,  veteran stands, band stage and several food trucks that smelled delicious. Calli got herself a new tie-dyed bandana, Lin bought a commemorative Waterloo t-shirt and I got some raw honey with lemongrass…YUM! We both enjoyed a fresh bag of caramel kettle corn! The day wouldn’t be the same without a parade and this action was right out of a movie. They handed out small American flags to the kids and tossed candy to the lucky ones. You could feel the pride of the crowd as their home town heroes passed by. Several marching bands, army vehicles, fire and EMS, reenactors form the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and all other wars to follow, walked the route. Just across the road in the park by the river was Civil War reenactment camp, really cool to experience. Its amazing how people still really get into this. Kids too.

Let’s talk history now. After the Civil War, widows and children visited the graves of their fallen family members and lay flowers at their markers. In 1865 a Waterloo local, Henry Carter Wells suggested placing flowers on all the veteran graves to honor the fallen. The citizens agreed and the women created wreaths to place at each marker. In 1868 the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) chose to recognize May 30^th as Decoration Day and in 1882 it was renamed Memorial Day. In 1873 New York was the first state to proclaim Memorial Day as a public holiday. Waterloo was designated as the birthplace of this holiday by Gov. Rockefeller in March 1966.

*Credit to Laurel C. Wemett of the “Life in the Finger Lakes” for the history portion.