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Community Corner

Father and Son Marines to Lead Memorial Day Parade

Salute to Veterans breakfast will start the day at the municipal complex.

A father and son, both Marines, will serve as co-grand marshals of Hillsborough’s annual Memorial Day parade on Saturday. 

Serving as co-grand marshals will be Philip J. Gentile and his son Philip D. Gentile.

The senior Gentile, who served in the Marines in the 1950s, was former chief of Fire Co. 3 on Woods Road.

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The younger Gentile is a colonel in the Marines, serving in Washington. Col. Gentile had previously commanded Marine Corps Intelligence Activity at the Quantico (Va.) Marine base.

The colonel, a and Penn State University graduate, had also served as director of Intelligence Integration Division in the Marine Corps’ Combat Development Command. In addition, he had been deployed to Liberia and Korea, and served multiple tours in Iraq.

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The parade will step off at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Auten and Triangle roads, then proceed to the municipal complex along New Amwell Road where there will be a ceremony at the Garden of Honor at 11:15 a.m..

The day starts at 8:30 a.m. with the Salute to Veterans, a breakfast for veterans and their families at the municipal complex. Reserved parking will be available. Rep. Leonard Lance (R- 7th district) and U.S. Senate Candidate Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) are expected to attend the breakfast.

At 10 a.m., the breakfast attendees will board passes to the mustering area of the parade. The veterans have the option of riding in vehicles in the parade or marching with other community groups.

Rain date for the parade is Sunday. The National Weather Service forecast for Saturday calls for partly sunny skies with a high near 86 degrees.

The weather should be perfect for The Frank “Nap’ Torpey Memorial “Hills of Somerset County” 75-Mile Road Race, part of the weekend’s Tour of Somerville Cycling Series.

The race, which starts and ends in Somerville, will go through 15 Somerset County municipalities.

The race, which begins at 9 a.m, will see the bicyclists wheel into Hillsborough over the Basilone Bridge from Raritan, and continue along River Road, arriving at Studdiford Drive at about 9:12 a.m. The bicyclists will continue onto South Branch Road to Amwell Road, reaching East Mountain Road at about 9:25 a.m.

The race will then go down East Mountain Road and into Montgomery, where it will loop on Route 518 on Route 206 before turning north on Millstone Road, re-entering Hillsborough. The race will then go up Millstone River Road to Manville before crossing Route 22 and going through Bridgewater, Warren, Watchung, Bernards, then returning to Somerville.

According to , the southbound lanes of Auten Road between New Amwell and Triangle roads will be closed for the parade Saturday at 9 a.m.

New Amwell Road between Auten Road and Beekman Lane and Beekman Lane between Van Bolton Road and South Branch Road will be closed at about 10 a.m. The roads will be closed until about 11 a.m.

Parking will be limited at the municipal complex and neighboring roads. Police will enforce "Emergency No Parking" zones in the area.

Many Hillsborough groups, including volunteer firefighters and the rescue squad, will also be participating in the Neshanic Fire Co.’s annual Memorial Day parade Monday at 9:30 a.m.

The parade will start at the firehouse at the corner of Maple Avenue and Pleasant Run Road, proceed on Maple Avenue, then back on Olive Street to the firehouse where there will be a ceremony.

The traditional highlight of the ceremony is the black powder musket fired by Boy Scout Troop 1776, based at the . The troop maintains a Colonial Militia Unit, whose members were traditional Revolutionary War attire and carry replicas of the muskets used in the War for Independence.

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