The Memorial Day Festivities

Memorial Day has always been a big deal in Groveville, even back when it was known as Decoration Day. Groveville is no different than any other small town, Yardville, Crosswicks, Allentown, and Hamilton Square, we all embrace the chance to honor our veterans that allow us the opportunity to celebrate Memorial Day.

Our Memorial Day Parade this year will be our 138th annual celebration and parade. It was a special and exciting time. As a child in Groveville, it was something to look forward to. All of the children would decorate their bikes with flags and Red, White, and Blue Crape Paper and ride them in the parade. The bikes and floats would be judged at the judging stand, in front of the Community House. Very few children watched the parade; most of them were in it, everyone belonged to a group, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Methodist Youth Fellowship, Indian Guides (a pre-Boy Scout group), Junior Fireman, or the gang just ridding their bikes.

Gary Lippincott ~ 1949

Church Street ~ Parade Ready

Wilbur Reynolds ~ Last minute flag adjustments

The Crowd Gathering ~ Lester Johnson (seated), Shirley Wright DiGenova (orange), Ruth McEmoyl Knight (stripes)



Groveville Fire Company 1965




Groveville Fire Company 1948 ~ First year with the new uniforms

Groveville Ladies Auxiliary ~ 1948

It all begins on the Sunday before Memorial Day when the men of the fire company and the ladies of the auxiliary would meet at the fire house, in uniform, and march up Main Street, to Church Street, to the Methodist Church for the annual Memorial Day Church Service to honor the veterans and those that serve the community.

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The Parade Beginning

Commander Tom H. Atkins, USN (Ret.)
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The Trucks of Groveville Through the Years








Gary Lippincott

The members of the Groveville Volunteer Fire Company would spend every night for a week before the parade, meticulously cleaning the trucks and equipment, touching up chipped paint, shinning chrome and paint. All of the equipment is removed and cleaned and polished. All of the hose is removed, cleaned and repacked, so all the folds in the hose are even. Even painting the tires with black tire paint and painting the lettering on the trucks tires with silver paint. We had fun doing it and enjoyed every minute of it. We also prayed there would be no calls till after the parade. This is the only payment a Volunteer Fireman gets; the chance to put on a fresh pressed uniform, bring out meticulously cleaned and polished apparatus, and march passed the community they serve and have that community applaud, cheer, and whistle their thanks and approval. That’s all we ever asked for.

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Some of the Bands




Steinert Band



Nottingham Band

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The Floats and Marchers






Nancy Lipton And Ashley Lipton


Kati Lippincott And Meagan Lipton



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The Annual Ceremony in The Cemetary

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It was a different time, The Mill was closed, Dad didn’t have go to work, people didn’t go away for the day, they stayed home and enjoyed the festivities at home. People walked around town, just enjoying each others company and the great feeling of “Community”, that living in Groveville provided.


In the afternoon, on the baseball field behind the Community House and Fire House there was an afternoon of games for kids and I seem to remember some type of food served. Being a Methodist Church in Groveville it was most likely a covered dish type of meal. The activities lasted most of the afternoon.

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The Groveville Baseball Team ~ Circa 1950

In the late afternoon there was always a Baseball game between the Groveville Fire Company Team and a team from Yardville. After the organization of the Yardville First Aid Squad this became the tradition.

Some of this tradition is still carried on today, as each Sunday before Memorial Day, at the Groveville Methodist Church, we honor the Veterans that allow us to worship as we please, also the Firemen, EMT and Rescue workers, both Hamilton Twp. Police and State Police, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts, all that serve to make life better are honored. All of these groups are represented at our service.

As I grew older and looked back at Memorial Day in Groveville as a child, it reminded me of something Norman Rockwell would have painted.

Groveville Fire Co. ~ Hose Test ~ 1968

Left to Right Lieutenant Leon "Digger" Gennett, Mike Engi, Chief Robert " Bob" Thompson, background William "Bill" Henry, Captain Victor "Vic" Champion.
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This is a photo of our semi annual hose test. No one like this job, except the driver. All of the hose on the truck had to be laid out, each hose length and coupling was inspected and all hose was pressure tested. For some reason I believe we carried 2200 feet of 2 1/2 inch hose on each truck, I could be wrong.

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This was taken at our favorite place for hose testing, Route 156, south of Take It Easy Bar, that is the Polish American Club, in the background. There was very little traffic on this stretch of road, so you could lay out all the hose and not be in any one's way, the hydrant was convenient and the hose was laid out on a hill, so when the test was complete the hose drained well, and its so much easier to roll up 2200 feet of hose "Downhill".

The water was flowed through the hose, the nozzle closed and the water pressure in the hose was brought to a specific pressure for a specified length of time. The hose is packed in layers in a zig zag fashion and some of the bottom layers of hose would never get used.

The only hose used was enough to do the job, which usually consisted of the top layers. Some of the hose then was cotton jacketed and subject to rot when left wet, the best place to burst a length of hose was at the test. Most times, if we could the truck would be repacked with dry hose, stored on racks in the fire house.