Small change for Valley Stream parade route

The Memorial Day Parade route will change slightly this year because of the construction on Valley Stream Boulevard. The road is closed between Hicks Street and Payan Avenue due to the culvert replacement project that isn’t expected to wrap up until last summer or early fall.

The parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. by the Wheeler Avenue School and head south down Rockaway Parkway. It will cross Merrick Road and head through the downtown before turning, as usual, onto Valley Stream Boulevard heading west. The change comes when the parade hits Hicks Street. Marchers will turn left onto Hicks Street and continue on for another two blocks until the parade ends, near the Long Island Rail Road parking lot.

Village Clerk Bob Barra said the south review stand, which is normally set up on Valley Stream Boulevard adjacent to the Village Green, will be moved to Hicks Street. There are no other changes to the parade route.

After the parade, there will be a ceremony at the veterans monument on the Village Green near the corner of Valley Stream Boulevard and Hicks Street.

This year’s parade is being hosted by American Legion Post 854, with assistance from VFW Post 1790. The parade chairman is Jerry Hahn of the American Legion and the assistant parade chairman is Joe Marando of the VFW.

The grand marshal is Edwin Marsh, representing the American Legion. He was born in 1936 and joined the Marines when he was 16. Marsh served in Korea in the Infantry.

Two years later, Marsh joined the army and served for five years, including a stint in Panama. He is a life member of the 33rd Infantry Combat Unit and the Underage Enlisted Veterans Organization, and also belongs to the Catholic War Veterans group.

Marsh moved to Valley Stream in 1995. He and his late wife had seven children. In 2000, he married his current wife, Frances Erfurt. They met at the American Legion.

He has twice been the vice commander of American Legion Post 854 and is currently the historian. Before moving to Valley Stream, Marsh was a member of Post 145 in Astoria, having served as commander.

Hahn talked about why Marsh was chosen as this year’s grand marshal. “He’s been a good member of the legion for a long time,” he said.