CANAAN – The Town of Canaan held its first Memorial Day Parade in 32 years on Monday, May 30. The parade gathered at the Canaan firehouse on state Route 295 and stepped off promptly at 1:45 p.m. with accompaniment of the Ghent Band. Marchers processed to the Veterans Memorial where wreaths were placed. They continued down to Stoddard Park for a program featuring comments from Town Supervisor Brenda Adams, New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106th) who is chair of the New York State Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee and Gary Flaherty, director of the Columbia County Veterans Service Agency.
Keynote speaker for the afternoon was Brigadier General Todd Traver, the only general on active duty from Columbia County. A Chatham native, he remembered Memorial Day services of his childhood. He said that 36 years ago he played taps for the ceremony. He also spoke of his uncle George Traver who was killed in WWII on the South Pacific island of Tarawa. In 2017 his remains were identified and returned for burial in the Chatham Cemetery. Brigadier General Traver also told the story of Chatham High School graduate Frank Fratellenico who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his action in Vietnam in 1970, sacrificing his life to save those of his comrades.
“I want to publicly recognize the Vietnam vets who returned home to scorn,” he said. “I want to say that I see you, I honor you, I respect you and I thank you.”
He also reminded the gathering of Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Robsky, an ordinance disposal tech from Elizaville who was killed while attempting to diffuse a bomb outside of Bagdad in 2003.
Brigadier General Traver advised the gathering to “fly the flag, be involved in your community, and please, exercise your right to vote.”
