By CHRISTIE BLECK
May 1, 2011
From Ingham County Community News
MASON - After a year hiatus, Mason will once again have a Memorial Day Parade.
The May 30 event will begin at the Veterans Monument at Courthouse Square at 8 a.m. with a reading of the names of late Ingham County veterans from World War I to the present day, said Bob Raab, Sr., commander of the American Legion Browne-Cavender Post 148 who is handling parade duties on behalf of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post Jean R. Anderson Post 7309.
The Legion and the VFW trade parade duties annually, he said.
The parade will step off at 9 a.m. at Bond Park and move onto Barnes Street, turn on Ash Street and then to Jefferson Street. The route will travel on Maple to Sycamore Creek where wreaths will be tossed into the creek to honor the Navy.
The Mason High School band will play the Navy Hymn, after which the procession will head to Maple Grove Ceremony. The names of veterans who died in the War of 1812 and the Civil War then will be recited.
The May 30 event will begin at the Veterans Monument at Courthouse Square at 8 a.m. with a reading of the names of late Ingham County veterans from World War I to the present day, said Bob Raab, Sr., commander of the American Legion Browne-Cavender Post 148 who is handling parade duties on behalf of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post Jean R. Anderson Post 7309.
The Legion and the VFW trade parade duties annually, he said.
The parade will step off at 9 a.m. at Bond Park and move onto Barnes Street, turn on Ash Street and then to Jefferson Street. The route will travel on Maple to Sycamore Creek where wreaths will be tossed into the creek to honor the Navy.
The Mason High School band will play the Navy Hymn, after which the procession will head to Maple Grove Ceremony. The names of veterans who died in the War of 1812 and the Civil War then will be recited.
Day of remembrance
"Memorial Day is a very solemn occasion," Raab said.
Therefore, Raab doesn't want horns or screaming people at the event.
"It's a day of remembrance."
Raab also pointed out for whom Memorial Day really celebrates.
"It's not for the veterans who are still alive," Raab said, "it's for the real heroes, the ones who didn't come home, who gave their lives so we can enjoy the freedoms that we have in this country."
Mason didn't have a 2010 parade - only a ceremony - because the event had become what Raab called a "half block in length."
That low participation was down from what the parade used to be - 10 blocks long, he said.
Raab called the recent turnout "embarrassing for what the day means."
However, he said the lack of a parade last year made people angry, but it also got the word out for the need for higher numbers this year.
So far there are 40 entries for the May 30 parade. Raab, a Vietnam veteran, is getting help from World War II veteran Frank Phillips.
"I think we're going to have a very interesting parade this year," Phillips said.
The tentative lineup includes local Boy and Girl Scouts, the VFW Color Guard and Rifle Squad, the American Legion Color Guard and Rifle Squad, Civil War drummers, a Legion float and marchers in various uniforms depicting several wars, including the Revolutionary War.
Raab said a maximum of 20 decorated tractors will be allowed in the Memorial Day Parade, even if the decoration is just a single red, white and blue ribbon.
Raab said the ceremony by the Veterans Monument will include a 21-gun salute by the VFW and Taps.
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