Memorial Day traditions observed in Waterbury, Duxbury
June 4, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
About 50 people gathered for the annual Memorial Day ceremony in Waterbury’ sHope Cemetery on May 26. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Memorial Day ceremonies enjoyed sunshine this year as members of Waterbury’s American Legion Post 59 visited local cemeteries to lay wreaths in memory of fallen U.S. service members.
Waterbury’s ceremony was followed by the Waterbury Historical Society’s 19th annual Ghost Walk featuring presentations on several colorful figures from the town’s past.
Below are galleries of scenes from the morning with thanks to contributors Meg Libby and Joe Camaratta for help with photos.
Legion members visited Maple Street Cemetery in Waterbury Center and Duxbury’s Holy Cross Cemetery before arriving at Hope Cemetery in Waterbury for the largest gathering with approximately 50 community members.
American Legion Post Commander Wayne Goulet and Chaplain Ted Carminatti each spoke with honors by the legion’s color guard, gun salute and Taps by Chris Wood on bugle.
Goulet called the day’s remembrance sacred, asking all to honor the “invisible presence” of those who gave their lives in service to their country. “May the ceremony of today deepen our reverence for our departed friends and comrades,” he said.
State Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, shared remarks, highlighting the history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dating back to the end of the Civil War. Freed slaves and members of the U.S. Colored Troops gathered in Charleston, South Carolina, to honor more than 250 Union soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave at a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the gravesite to give the soldiers proper individual burials.
Wood introduced student speakers Susannah and Jacob Rye. The Waterbury 5th- and 7th-graders read poems adapted for the holiday.
Betsy Ainsworth, Barbara Barra, John Buck, and Duncan McDougall led in singing “America the Beautiful,” after which veterans placed a wreath at the veterans' memorial near the cemetery entrance and flagpole.
Ghost Walk
David Josko shared photos, drawings, and artifacts from his grandfather Roy Arnold who lived in Waterbury and designed and created hundreds of carved circus figures now housed as a permanent exhibit at Shelburne Museum. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Many of the attendees from the ceremony stayed for the Waterbury Historical Society’s 19th annual Ghost Walk. Three stations were set up in Hope Cemetery for presentations by guest speakers who shared stories about figures from Waterbury’s past. The audience divides into three groups visiting each spot where the speakers give a short talk with time for questions. The presentations are repeated three times so attendees can hear each one.
Speaking near the gravesite of Waterbury resident Andrew Brown, who worked for the Central Vermont Railroad, railroad Historical Society member Jim Murphy shared stories of his career as a station agent and telegraph operator with the railroad. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Guest speaker David Josko brought plenty of memorabilia from his grandfather and former Waterbury resident Roy Arnold’s lifelong passion for carving circus figures. He shared stories, photos, drawings and artifacts, describing the process Arnold used to capture images of real-life circus scenes to then design his versions in miniature that he and hired carvers created. After decorating and painting them, the resulting hundreds of pieces ultimately landed at Shelburne Museum in the early 1960s. Today the carved figures, along with dozens of Arnold’s vintage circus posters, are part of the permanent collection in the museum’s Circus Barn.
Josko recalled how his grandfather had a room in his house dedicated to his art. “I learned at a young age, do not touch,” he quipped. Each handmade piece was unique Josko noted. “He did all the painting,” he said of his grandfather. “Every face is different.”
Waterbury Historical Society member P. Howard “Skip” Flanders shared a presentation on the Hobart family whose members lived on what is today Shaw Mansion Road. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Former Waterbury resident and railroad station agent Andrew Brown lived in town in the late 1800s and is buried in Hope Cemetery. The presentation near his gravesite was done by Central Vermont Railroad Historical Society member Jim Murphy, whose father and grandfather before him worked for the railroad. Today he lives by railroad tracks in St. Albans and gives presentations about Vermont railroad history and works on a variety of railroad history projects around the state. He shared stories of his career that began in 1955 as a Central Vermont Railroad telegraph operator and station agent working all around Vermont.
And Waterbury Historical Society member P. Howard “Skip” Flanders shared a presentation near a large family plot in the cemetery belonging to the Hobart family, whose members lived on what is today Shaw Mansion Road. Sons Walter and Reuben of Elijah Hobart and Judith Broderick Hobart, went to Nevada and California in the 19th century to make a fortune in gold, silver and copper mining and the timber business needed to support mines and railroad expansion. Along the way, a sister Emeline, married a man named Bradley Shaw, whose legacy today is Shaw Mansion Road in Waterbury Center.