Memorial Day 2023: Hurley parade info, list of participating units, profile of Grand Marshal
Join us on Monday May 29!
The Hurley Memorial Day Parade will step off at 10 a.m. May 29 at the THikit print shop, 185 Zandhoek Road (formerly St. John’s Mission), proceed northwest on Zandhoek Road, turn right at the end of the Hurley Cemetery property, cross Hurley Avenue, travel the length of Main Street, cross Wynkoop Road, turn left on Wamsley Place and end in front of the Town Hall, where there will be a ceremony, hot dogs and beverages.
The Hurley Heritage Society Museum, which is along the parade route at 52 Main St., will have a bake sale on its front lawn during the parade, with fresh-brewed coffee and bottled water available.
The parade route is about 1.5 miles. The route map can be found online at tinyurl.com/5n6n8ud2.
The Grand Marshal will be Ron Gibbons Sr. (pictured). A profile of Mr. Gibbons appears below.
Parade units, in lineup order:
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Boy Scouts
Elected officials
Grand Marshal Ron Gibbons Sr.
West Hurley Fire Department
Hurley Fire Department
Spring Lake Fire Department
Hurley Senior Citizens
EmAySea Advertising
Kingston High School Drum Line and Color Guard
Hurley Heritage Society
Climate Smart Hurley
Hurley Library
Hurley Lions Club
E.C. Myer Elementary School
Cub Scouts
Girl Scouts
Mountain Valley Little League
Hurley Nursery School
Hurley Recreation Association
First Capital Corvettes
Hurley Highway Department
Meet Grand Marshal Ron Gibbons Sr.
The Grand Marshal of this year’s Hurley Memorial Day Parade will be Ron Gibbons Sr., who served in the U.S. Navy near the end of and after World War II and has lived in Hurley for 62 years.
Mr. Gibbons, 95, was drafted in June 1945 and was assigned to the San Francisco-based USS Hornet CV-12 aircraft carrier with the rank of Fireman First Class (F1C).
A native of Gloversville, NY, Mr. Gibbons said 14 people in the one-block area where he grew up served in the U.S. military during World War II.
After serving in the Navy, Mr. Gibbons attended Rider College in New Jersey and then Champlain College in Plattsburgh, NY, where he played center on the varsity football team. After college, he worked for General Electric in Schenectady – where he discovered he and a colleague had served simultaneously on the USS Hornet – and then for IBM in the town of Ulster, from which he retired in 1990.
But Mr. Gibbons isn’t fully retired. You can find him at Lowe’s in the town of Ulster, where he’s been employed for 15 years and currently works in the Garden Department from 6 a.m. to noon every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
“If you sit, you’re going to vegetate,” he said of why he still holds down a job. “You have to keep moving.”
Mr. Gibbons also worked as a crew member on the Hudson River tour boat Rip Van Winkle for four years.
Mr. Gibbons lives on Hilltop Drive in Hurley with his wife of 65 years, Mary. He has four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is a member of the American Legion.
Look for him in the Grand Marshal vehicle during the Hurley Memorial Day Parade.