Great Escape: Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade

If you live in Little Neck, you need look no further for this week's great escape than the 84th Annual Little Neck Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, which takes place on Monday, May 30. 

An estimated 80,000 spectators are expected to attend this year and it looks like Little Neck-Douglaston will once again host the nation’s largest annual Memorial Day Parade, a tradition that dates back to 1927. 

The day's activities will begin with an interfaith memorial service held at St. Anastasia's Church in Douglaston at 10 a.m., which will immediately be followed by a wreath laying ceremony.

Then around 1 p.m., it's off to Great Neck to watch the different divisions marching in this year’s parade, assembling at the intersection of Jayson Avenue and Great Neck Road before they wind their way west into Queens, through Little Neck then into Douglaston where the grand procession ends on Northern Boulevard right in front of to St. Anastasia's Church.

This year's grand marshal will be Major General William Waff, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve 99 RSC, Fort Dix, along with honorary marshals Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall.

And special honoree of this year's Memorial Day Parade Distinguished Patriot Award is world renowned photographer and Douglaston resident Tony Vaccaro, who's probably best known for his shots of Europe following World War II.

With a line-up this good, Memorial Day promises to be a great day of fun and excitement.