Published in the April 28, 2016 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD —The traditional Memorial Day Parade that has featured veterans, local officials, the High School Marching Band and local Boy and Girl Scout troops has been eliminated from this year’s Memorial Day program in favor of an expanded ceremony on the Common.
Veterans Services Director Alicia Reddin told the Board of Selectmen this week that starting this year the Memorial Day ceremony on Veterans Memorial Common will be expanded and the parade from the Galvin Middle School that has traditionally preceded the ceremony will be eliminated.
Reddin said that safety concerns were a factor in the decision, which “was based on feedback from community members, veterans, participants and parents of groups marching.”
She said that this year’s Memorial Day program at 1 p.m. on May 30 will include an expanded music program in cooperation with the Wakefield Wind Ensemble and a ceremony dedicating books to be donated to the local elementary schools in memory of killed-in-action soldiers, sailors and airmen from Wakefield.
Reddin also announced that the featured speaker at the Memorial Day ceremony will be U.S. Army veteran and former Wakefield selectman John Carney.
Reddin requested that Common and Main streets along Veterans Memorial Common be closed from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Monday, May 30 for the safety of those attending the Memorial Day ceremony. The selectmen approved the road closures.
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There are also changes coming to the Wakefield Veterans Services Office but those changes should not affect services to local veterans, according to Reddin.
Reddin told the Board of Selectmen on Monday that Ryan McLane, who for the last three years has served as the Director of Veterans Services for the district that includes Wakefield, Melrose and Saugus, has been called up for active duty by the National Guard.
Reddin said that the exact length of time that McLane will be on active duty is not known but she expects that it will be six months to one year. She said that a plan has been developed to restructure responsibilities and maintain services to veterans.
“In Mr. McLane’s absence, I will be taking over the district as director and we have hired a new temporary VSO who will be the new primary VSO for Saugus and the backup for me in Wakefield if needed,” Reddin said.
Up to now, Reddin has served as the Veterans Services Officer for Wakefield and Saugus.
Reddin introduced the board to Pedro Brito, who will take over Reddin’s former duties and serve as the temporary Veterans Services Officer for the Melrose-Wakefield-Saugus District.
Reddin said that Brito served for nine years in the U.S. Navy as a heavy equipment operator primarily on the West Coast and completed three deployments during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Those deployments were to Cuba, the South Pacific and the Middle East, Reddin said. She added that Brito recently completed his bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Massachusetts and is currently preparing for the MTELs in order to become a history teacher.
While in the Navy, Brito was the main training officer for a specialty designation called “Seabee Combat Warfare Skills” and had a direct hand in the training and completion of over 90 veterans in Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 27. Reddin, who was also a Navy Seabee, said that she was one of those that Brito trained.
Other projects that Brito managed while in the service included:
• Planning, budgeting and execution of a $1 million shooting range in Cuba for use by the Marine Corps.
• Planning, budgeting and execution of a $3 million air strip in Australia.
• Complete overhaul and redesign of the Equipment Operator’s training facility in Chicopee for use by over 200 junior sailors.
Board members welcomed Brito.
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In other business this week, the Board of Selectmen:
• Appointed David A. West to the Advisory Board of Public Works.
• Appointed Jeanne Stinson to the Recreation Commission.
• Re-appointed David N. Peterson, Lea J. Tyhach and Frank Calandra to the Conservation Commission.
• Re-appointed Kimberly Hackett-Fowlie, James McBain and Richard Bayrd to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
• Appointed Philip Renzi, James Lapery and Joseph Bertrand to the Permanent Building Committee.
• Appointed Gene Moulton to the Commission on Disability Issues.
• Appointed Philip Renzi to the Capital Planning Committee.
• Appointed Pamela A. Hart to the Veterans Advisory Board.
• Appointed David Watts Jr. to the Human Rights Commission.
• Appointed Kathleen E. Marino as a teller at Precinct 1.
• Approved a request from Library Director Sharon Gilley to donate library discards to the Friends of the Library for their annual book sale.
• Approved a peddler’s license for Will Bethune.
• Approved a Common Victualler License for Charm Thai Bistro, 412 Main St.
• Approved the sale of tax title property at 23 Eaton St.
• Set a public hearing for May 9, 2016 at 7:40 p.m. at the request of the Municipal Gas & Light Department for pole locations on Lowell Street between Quannapowitt Parkway and Main Street.