Brooklyn Canarsie Lions host Memorial Day wreath-laying, parade tribute

The Brooklyn Canarsie Lions on Monday escaped heavy thundershowers, as they led a solemn tribute, with marching bands, in Canarsie, Brooklyn, in remembering America’s war dead on Memorial Day.

Several area politicians — including Assembly Members Jamie Williams and Monique Chandler-Waterman, Sen. Roxanne Persaud and Council Member Farah N. Louis – participated, among others, in the parade and ceremony.

Debbie Louis, representative for Gov. Kathy Hochul, was also on hand.

Brooklyn Canarsie Lions Club members with banner along parade route. Photo by Nelson A. King

The parade line-up began at 9:30 a.m. sharp at the Holy Family Parking Lot, with the parade proceeded, at 10 a.m., southbound from Flatlands Avenue to Avenue L onto Remsen Avenue, stopping at the Canarsie Cemetery to lay the wreath and honor the fallen heroes.

Parade Grand Marshals: Zeneth Yessenia Buzzele, Randolph Waterman and Esther Purvis. Photo by Nelson A. King

It ended at Conklin Avenue and E 92nd Street at the American Legion, where a small reception was held.

Lions and supporters on Conklin Avenue and E 92nd Street, near the American Legion building, in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Photo by Nelson A. King

“Each Memorial Day we honor those who died in service of these United States of America we call home,” Brooklyn Canarsie Lions Club President Jean Joseph told parade-goers at Remsen Avenue in front of the office at the Canarsie Ceremony. “So today, we gather together in celebration and remembrance of our heroes who died, so we may live free. May their sacrifice be a constant reminder of the things that matter.

“We are forever grateful for their ultimate sacrifice, and their courage and dedication will never be forgotten,” added the Dominican-born Joseph, also a certified public accountant (CPA). “Though we may not know them all, we owe them all. Thus, it is both a pleasure and a privilege as president of the Brooklyn Canarsie Lions Club to stand today with our many partnering organizations and local elected officials in celebration of this Memorial Day.

With wreath: Brooklyn Canarsie Lions Club President Jean Joseph, far right, with elected officials and others – Council Member Farah N. Louis, third from left; Senator Roxanne Persaud, fifth from left; and Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman, sixth from left. Photo by Nelson A. King

“Yes, though we are saddened when we think about the many lives that have been lost, yet we also celebrate this day,” she continued. “We celebrate the freedoms we are able to enjoy because of the sacrifice of our sons and daughters. I remind you that the only place that celebration comes before sacrifice is in the dictionary. And also, as it is said, freedom is not free.  Therefore, our nation owes a debt of gratitude to our fallen heroes.

“We must remember that we are the land of the free because of the brave, and without Memorial Day there will be no Independence Day,” said Joseph, recalling the words of former President Barack Obama in one of his stirring Memorial Day Speeches: ‘Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay.’

“Therefore, let’s strive to live by the liberties and principles for which our bravest soldiers fell,” she urged. “They are the reason we are free. We salute them with pride and pray that their memory will forever live on in our hearts.”

Nina Prog, 12, center, receives certificate flanked by family members and Brooklyn Canarsie Lions Club members.Photo by Nelson A. King

After a wreath was laid on a monument in the cemetery, erected in 1886, after the Civil War, Rabbi Avrohom Hecht, of the Jewish Community Council of Canarsie, prayed: “We gather in prayer to remember our precious men and women. May the Lord shower them with goodness.”

Sen. Roxanne Persaud, the Guyanese-born representative for the 19th Senate District in Brooklyn, was also present, at the wreath-laying ceremony, with Rabbi Hecht; Joseph; Judge Jackie Williams, a Brooklyn Family Court judge, of Panamanian ancestry; and Yolaine Ridore, the Haitian-born vice president of the Brooklyn Canarsie Lions.