Gorham and Westbrook each have Memorial Day observances set for Monday, May 26, packed with parades and ceremonies with high-profile guest speakers. Retired Navy Rear Adm. Stephen G. Yusem will speak in Westbrook and retired U. S. Army Special Forces veteran Maj. Robert Snyder in Gorham.

In Westbrook, observances get under way at 8 a.m. at Veterans Rest in Woodlawn Cemetery, 380 Stroudwater St., and at the Stephen W. Manchester grave in the cemetery. Manchester was the first Westbrook soldier to die in World War I.

American Legion Post 197 Commander Steve Girard and Post 62 Commander Dennis Marrotte will place wreaths at a memorial in Veterans Rest. Westbrook Police Department will fire a rifle salute and the Westbrook High School band will play “Taps.”

Marine Corps veteran Philip LeClerc, Post 62 chaplain, and Navy veteran Roger Leighton of Gorham, Post 197 second vice commander, are co-grand marshals of the annual parade.

The Police Department announced online that the parade lineup will be on Quimby Avenue and Mechanic Street, with that area closed off to traffic at 9 a.m. “People dropping off parade participants can do so on Central Street or on Quimby Avenue by West Pleasant Street,” the post says.

William Clarke Drive (Route 25) at Mechanic Street will be closed in both directions for approximately 10-15 minutes around 10 a.m. to allow the parade to cross the street. Main Street between Mechanic Street and Capt. William Hartley Drive will be closed from 9:50 a.m. to approximately 10:30 a.m.

The parade steps off at 10 a.m., rolls through downtown, and ends at Riverbank Park for the annual ceremony.

Navy veteran Phil Spiller, who served in Iraq, will be the emcee. Spiller has announced that Yusem, a Pennsylvania resident, will be the keynote speaker. Yusem is highly decorated with two Legion of Merit awards and a Meritorious Service Medal.

Westbrook Mayor David Morse will deliver the city’s proclamation.

The ceremony will include patriotic songs, poems, the Pledge of Allegiance, national anthem, police volley and laying of wreaths.

In Gorham, Memorial Post 10879 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will have a ceremony with a rifle volley at 9 a.m. in Hillside Cemetery on Huston Road. The post will toss a wreath into the Presumpscot River from the bridge on Route 202.

Recreation Director Cindy Hazelton has organized Gorham’s annual parade that will form up at 10 a.m. in the village along Lincoln Street that will close to through traffic for an hour. The parade will feature youth groups and school bands along with color guards from Post 10879 and the Police Department.

The parade will step off from the intersection of Lincoln and South streets at 11 a.m. with a Gorham police cruiser leading the way. The parade will halt on South Street to place wreaths on a Veterans Memorial in Phinney Park.

Then, the parade continues down Main Street where it finishes at Eastern Cemetery for a ceremony with a rifle salute.

Gorham resident Betty Rines will play “Taps” at both the South Street monument and in Eastern Cemetery during the observance that includes the national anthem and youth placing wreaths.

“We are honored to welcome Maj. Robert Snyder, U.S. Army Special Forces, as our guest speaker,” Jake Bauder, Memorial Post 10879 quartermaster, said in an email.

Bauder said Snyder began his “distinguished” military career by enlisting in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of staff sergeant before earning his commission as an officer. “He volunteered to serve during the Vietnam War and served over two decades in the U.S. Army Special Forces, including combat tours during Operation Desert Storm,” Bauder said.