Wayland Moves Memorial Day Ceremony Indoors as Rain Cancels Parade
WAYLAND — Soggy weather forced the cancellation of Wayland's 2026 Memorial Day Parade, the Public Ceremonies Committee announced Monday morning, but the town's Ceremony of Remembrance will still go forward — indoors, at the Wayland Middle School gymnasium, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
TOWN HALL
The Wayland Public Ceremonies Committee confirmed early Monday that the parade portion of the 2026 Memorial Day Program is off because of rain. The Ceremony of Remembrance, the program's centerpiece honoring Wayland's fallen service members, has been relocated to the Wayland Middle School gymnasium at 201 Main Street and will begin at 11:30 a.m. The committee had announced the broader program — parade plus ceremony — only hours earlier before pivoting to the rain plan.
Town offices, the library and the Council on Aging are closed Monday for the holiday.
COMMUNITY & ARTS
The Wayland Free Public Library is closed Monday for Memorial Day and resumes regular hours Tuesday. The Council on Aging at 8 Andrew Avenue is also closed for the holiday, with regular weekday hours returning Tuesday.
Vokes Players has two productions on the horizon at its Route 20 theater and beyond. As part of Wayland's semi-quincentennial programming, the company is teaming with the Wayland 250 Committee and the Wayland High School theater department for a concert version of "1776" at Wayland High School on June 12 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. The community theater's summer mainstage, Joe DePietro's "Over the River and Through the Woods," directed by David Berti, runs July 24 through Aug. 8.
The Wayland Museum & Historical Society's "Tracing Liberty" series continues May 31 at 9 a.m. with a "Walk, Wonder, and Discover!" outing at Lake Cochituate Town Beach, 25 Parkland Drive. The next monthly book talk — on "Precious & Adored: Love Letters of Rose Cleveland & Evangeline Simpson Whipple" by Tilly Laskey — is set for June 3 at 7 p.m. at the library and on Zoom, with an in-person author talk to follow on June 7 at 2 p.m.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS
"Wayland Receives $150,000 State Grant For Culvert Work" — Wayland Patch reports the town has secured state funding to advance culvert projects, including final design work on Loker Street aimed at easing chronic road flooding (read it at https://patch.com/massachusetts/wayland).
"Busy Wayland Street To Close For Utility Work" — Patch reports that southbound Oak Street will see weekday closures for utility work beginning this week (read it at https://patch.com/massachusetts/wayland).
"Wayland Firefighters Take Part In Dive Team Training" — Patch reports five members of the Wayland Fire Department traveled to Milford last Wednesday for regional dive training (read it at https://patch.com/massachusetts/wayland).
COMING UP
- Monday, May 25, 11:30 a.m. — Ceremony of Remembrance, Wayland Middle School gymnasium, 201 Main St. - Sunday, May 31, 9 a.m. — Wayland Museum "Walk, Wonder, and Discover!" at Lake Cochituate Town Beach. - Tuesday, May 26 — Library, Council on Aging and town offices reopen on regular schedules.