For Immediate Release May 14, 2023

Contact: Peter Galgano, Secretary Charles Colaresi, Chairman

(860) 604-7258 (860) 224-9494

MEMORIAL DAY PARADE – Monday - MAY 29, 2023

Parade Route and Ceremony at the Berlin Veterans Memorial Park

(Berlin, CT) – This year’s Memorial Day Parade will start at 9:00 AM at St. Paul’s Church on Peck Street, Kensington. There will be a flyover by the CT Air National Guard during the parade. The parade route will go down Farmington Avenue turning left onto Massirio Drive, passing the Berlin Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10732, then a left onto Veterans Way and end at the Berlin Veterans Memorial Park, where a Memorial Day Ceremony will take place between 9:45 and 10:05 AM.

There will be an Invocation by Clifford P. Cote, US Air Force Veteran. Father Joe, from St. Paul’s will do the Benediction. The Berlin High School Madrigal Singers, directed by Tyler Boyle, will sing the “National Anthem” and “America the Beautiful”. The Berlin High School Saxophone Quartet will play an "Armed Forces Medley", directed by Christopher Dresko. There will be a rifle volley by the joint members of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 10732, and members of the American Legion Post 68, followed by Taps played by Berlin HS Trumpeters Evan Paone and Peyton Miller.

This year’s guest speaker is Matt McNally, Chief of Police of the Berlin Police Department

As a police officer, crime scene investigator, detective, police supervisor and now Chief of Police of the Berlin Police Department; Matt McNally has 40 years of experience in the successful investigation and prosecution of hundreds of criminal cases. Since the terror attacks of 9/11/2001, he had been the City of Danbury Homeland Security Coordinator and his departments’ Intelligence Liaison Officer to the Connecticut Intelligence Center. He also was the OIC for the Danbury police department’s COVID-19 response for 18 months and was an integral part of that City’s COVID-19 management team with the Health & Human Services Department and the Office of Emergency Management.

Chief McNally has spoken extensively on issues of Criminal Justice, Homeland Security, and Forensic Science. For the over 13 years, Chief McNally had been an adjunct professor at Goodwin University in East Hartford, where he instructed classes such as Forensic Science, Forensic Photography, Ethics, International and Domestic Terrorism, Introduction to Homeland Security, Emergency Management, and all levels of the National Incident Management System as part of the Public Safety and Security Program. For the past 9 years, he has been an Advisory Board and adjunct faculty member of the Justice & Law Administration department at Western Connecticut State University, where he has taught Introduction to Criminal Justice II, as well as Police and Social Order. He is also an instructor in Critical Incident Management for all levels of law enforcement. Chief McNally is an FBI trained, POST certified Police Instructor for law enforcement officers throughout the Connecticut Police Academy system. His particular emphasis has been on training and developing Crime Scene Investigators (CSI’s) and in Critical Incident Response and Management for first line supervisors and management personnel.

Chief McNally has his Bachelor of Science in Justice and Law Administration from Western Connecticut State University and holds a Master of Science degree from the University of New Haven in Forensic Science, having studied under Dr. Henry Lee, and Dr. Robert Gaensslaen. He has been a certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst through the International Association for Identification (I.A.I.), the foremost leading association of forensic scientists in the world.

In his spare time, he had been the Program Coordinator/Chief Advisor to the Danbury Law Enforcement Cadet program for the past 31 years. This program involves young adults aged 13-21 interested in public service career areas like law enforcement, thus Chief McNally stays in touch with young adults who are interested in pursuing careers in criminal justice, with an emphasis on advising and assisting these young adults in attaining their formal educations. Chief McNally has recently brought this program to the Berlin community. Through his involvement with law enforcement exploring and police cadets, he was a founding member of the Northeast Regional Law Enforcement Education Association and it’s Cadet Police Academy, held annually at a college or military base campus and currently sits on the NERLEEA Board of Directors. He has served in various capacities and was previously the Cadet Police Academy’s Executive Director. He continues to serve the CPA as a Director emeritus, program specialty instructor, firearms instructor, firearms range director and is still active as an executive board member. The Chief has been a featured speaker on this program nationally. It is estimated that Chief McNally has raised “over 1000 teenagers” who he has advised on careers in public service, military service, law enforcement or forensic science.

Matt is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He comes from a long family tradition of US Military service dating back to the American Revolution. As an avid reader of historical non-fiction, he is a dedicated student of American history; in particular that of the U.S. Military, American legal jurisprudence and all history specializing in command and leadership actions. He is also a member of the Fraternal Order of Police; International Association of Chiefs of Police; the American Legion; the Berlin Police Association, and the Marine Corps League.

In the event of rain, the Memorial Day Ceremony will be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 10732, 152 Massirio Dr., Berlin, CT 06037 at 9:00 AM.