The parade will end at Heritage Park with a ceremony and wreath-laying.

LEWISTON – Veterans plan to lead a parade through the center of Lewiston-Auburn Monday morning, concluding with the dedication of Veterans Memorial Park on the bank of the Androscoggin River.

The parade is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., starting from Kennedy Park in Lewiston.

It will proceed down Lisbon Street to Main Street and across the Longley Bridge to Auburn. Once there, the marchers plan to go through Great Falls Plaza, onto Turner Street and back to Court Street, leading them across the river again and ending at Heritage Park.

Leaders plan to rename the area Veterans Memorial Park.

Six new flagpoles have been erected for the occasion. Five will fly the flags of service branches – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and the Coast Guard – and the sixth will fly one for prisoners of war.

The dedication ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a wreath-laying, performed by Nancy Cunningham. Her son, Army Spc. Daniel Francis Cunningham Jr., was killed in Iraq.

The wreath-laying will be followed by a flyover of aircraft from Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Musicians from high schools in Lewiston and Auburn are scheduled to perform at the ceremony.

However, none will march in the parade, said Emmett Stuart, commander of the New Auburn American Legion and an organizer of the event.

Too few students were available, he said.

Hundreds of other marchers are likely to participate. Police and fire departments from Lewiston and Auburn plan to take part, alongside members of ROTC groups, scouts and color guards from area military units.

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