Marching to the drumbeat of a longstanding Island tradition, students in Edgartown, Chilmark, and Tisbury marched to the sea Friday to scatter flowers in the water in honor of those who died at war.

In Chilmark students gathered at U.S. Coast Guard Station Menemsha, where Coast Guard officers spoke to students and then joined them on the march down to the harbor.

In Edgartown, the birthplace of the March to the Sea tradition, the parade stepped off from Edgartown school with school officials, the police chief and fire chief, veterans, and the baton-twirling club leading the pack.

The parade stopped as flowers were placed on war memorials in front of the court house before continuing to Memorial Wharf. Under blue skies and with holiday traffic filling town streets, a crowd gathered for a ceremony including songs, poems, and a presentation from guest speaker Martin V. (Skip) Tomassian Jr. before seventh graders gathered flowers from the younger classes and tossed the flowers into Edgartown Harbor.