"It is an honor for me and all the other veterans that served our country," Lee W. Sinnickson told the Long Island Advance after he was named grand marshal of this year's Veterans Memorial Parade.
On Sunday, Nov. 8, he'll lead the parade from East Moriches School on Adelaide Avenue to Soldiers and Sailors Park. He has a history with the end of the route. Among his many community roles, Sinnickson has served as president of East Moriches Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Park. So the man at the front of the line is walking toward a place he once helped run, and a chamber of commerce marking its 100th year has organized the whole afternoon. East Moriches's big public occasions are run by a small group of volunteer institutions that overlap, and the people in the parade are often the same people who look after the places it passes.
Sunday at 2, Rain or Shine
The basics, from the Chamber of Commerce of the Moriches:
- When: Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, stepping off at 2 p.m., rain or shine
- Start: East Moriches School on Adelaide Avenue
- Finish: Soldiers and Sailors Park, where a memorial ceremony follows
- Who marches: veteran organizations, marching bands and community groups
The parade comes three days before Veterans Day, which falls on a Wednesday this year. The Chamber is still recruiting marchers. According to the Long Island Advance, veterans who want to take part can call Miriam Gillies at 631-878-1111. Veterans who can't walk the route will be driven by the Chamber, and float participants are also wanted. You can also reach the Chamber at [email protected].
The ceremony ends at a stone in Soldiers and Sailors Park that honors East Moriches residents who served the country in wartime, as Long Island Exchange notes.
A Grand Marshal Who Belongs to Both Moriches
Sinnickson's résumé covers most of the institutions the parade brings together. The Long Island Advance reports that he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division from 1967 to 1969. His decorations include the Combat Infantry Badge and the Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster.
After the war, he earned a funeral directing degree from Farmingdale College in 1971 and took over Sinnickson's Moriches Funeral Home on Main Street in Center Moriches. His grandfather, a World War I veteran, and his father, a World War II veteran, ran the business before him.
He has also spent decades with the firehouses on both sides of the hamlet line, as this table shows.
| Organization | Sinnickson's role |
|---|---|
| East Moriches Fire Department | 25 years; officer of Hose Company II; trustee of the benevolent association |
| Center Moriches Fire Department | Recently served as commissioner; still active |
| East Moriches Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Park | President |
| Moriches Lions Club | President |
| Moriches Bay Little League | President |
| VFW Post 424, American Legion Post 1545 | Lifetime member |
Brad Droskoski submitted the nomination. In it, he wrote that Sinnickson "served our nation with exceptional honor during the Vietnam War as an infantryman in the U.S. Army." This isn't Sinnickson's first time leading a local parade. He was grand marshal of the St. Patrick's Day parade in 2012.
The Advance's own coverage shows how the two hamlets blur together here. Its headline calls this the "Center Moriches Chamber" parade, but the parade itself takes place in East Moriches. The organizer's full name is the Chamber of Commerce of the Moriches, and it has worked across that line from the start.
What the Chamber Was Arguing About in 1926
The Chamber is celebrating its centennial this year. In its column in Trihamlet News, it says local business and community leaders came together in 1926 to advance "the commercial, recreational and civic interests of the Moriches area" and to give the community a voice on issues affecting its future.
Its early agendas look familiar. According to the Chamber, newspaper records from its first few years show members discussing roads, street lighting, traffic signals, community facilities, dredging and beautification. Swap a few words and that list could be a 2026 meeting agenda. The group that once argued over traffic signals now sets the date, the route and the grand marshal for the Nov. 8 parade.
The centennial wraps up with a holiday dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Rock Hill Country Club, 105 Clancy Road. Tickets are $75 and include a buffet dinner, an open bar and live music by The New Millennium Jazz Band. To mark the 1926 founding, the Chamber is asking guests to come in Roaring Twenties cocktail attire. The Chamber's event listing calls it a Great Gatsby-themed party, which is the same idea. Tickets and RSVPs are handled at moricheschamber.org.
The Montauk Highway Stretch the Town Protected in 2000
If you head over to Montauk Highway before or after the ceremony, you'll be in the East Moriches Historic District. The Brookhaven Town Board approved it on Nov. 21, 2000, by a 6–1 vote, along with districts in Moriches, Center Moriches and Eastport. The Ketcham Inn Foundation's chronology records the date. The East Moriches Property Owners' Association says the district's Montauk Highway section runs from the Bypass to Bay Avenue.
Two buildings in the district show how its history has been kept, and who has done the keeping.
The Osborn House, 453 Montauk Highway. Its original section is believed to date from between 1706 and 1735, which makes it roughly 300 years old. It was a tavern for a time and later a private home for prominent area residents. Greater Long Island reported that a request to demolish it went before Brookhaven's Historic District Advisory Committee this summer. Brookhaven Councilwoman Karen Dunne Kesnig shared the news on social media, and dozens of commenters asked the town to save the house. The demolition request was withdrawn in July. Kesnig told the outlet it was too early to say what will happen to the property, and added, "I am a strong advocate for preserving our historic treasures and sincerely hope that we can work together to achieve that." The house is standing, and its future is still undecided.
The Chapman House, 578 Montauk Highway. The property owners' association describes it as an Italianate residence built about 1855. It opened as the White Truffle Inn in November 2000 and was later used by the South Bay Bible Church. The association's own project records document its preservation advocacy for the building.
In both cases, nobody had to bring in an outside agency. Local volunteers stepped in: an association that was paying attention, residents who wrote in, and a councilwoman who posted about it. It's the same group of neighbors who will line the sidewalks on Nov. 8.
The Rest of the Season, in One Place
This chamber-and-firehouse calendar continues into December. These are the confirmed public dates between Sunday, Nov. 8, and mid-December:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 8, 2 p.m. | Veterans Memorial Parade and memorial ceremony | East Moriches School on Adelaide Ave. to Soldiers and Sailors Park |
| Tues., Dec. 8, 6–9 p.m. | Chamber of Commerce of the Moriches 100th anniversary holiday dinner | Rock Hill Country Club, 105 Clancy Road |
| Sat., Dec. 12, 6–8 p.m. | Center Moriches Fire Department Holiday Parade of Lights | Main Street, from Montauk Highway and Lake Avenue to Ocean Avenue |
According to the Center Moriches Fire Department, the Parade of Lights has a rain date of Sunday, Dec. 13, at 5 p.m. That's one more December evening organized by a firehouse and timed to bring the neighbors out on a single street.
At The Hamptons Edge Team, we're thankful to the veterans marching on Nov. 8 and to the volunteers who've kept this parade going. If you'd like to hear more about the history along East Moriches's stretch of Montauk Highway, we're always glad to talk about it. When you're ready to learn what your own place in the Moriches is worth, start with a free home valuation.
