Event to begin at 10 a.m., followed by ceremony at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park
The City of Sarasota, in conjunction with the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee, will host the annual Memorial Day parade at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 28, in downtown Sarasota, the city has announced.
The parade will start at the intersection of Main Street and Osprey Avenue. It will conclude at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park, which is located at the intersection of Main Street and Gulfstream Avenue, where a ceremony will be held at approximately 11 a.m., the release adds. The public is encouraged to attend.
The theme for the 2018 ceremony, which will honor Vietnam veterans, is All Gave Some. Some Gave All, the release points out. The keynote speaker will be retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Charles L. Thomas, who served for 28 years before teaching JROTC classes at Sarasota Military Academy, the release adds.
The parade will include 130 band members from Blair High School in Omaha, Neb., the release notes. Sarasota Military Academy students will represent area high schools in the parade, it adds.
Among other participants will be the color guards of the Sarasota Police Department, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the Sarasota County Fire Department; Pearl Harbor survivor Capt. Robert O’Neil; the Boy Scouts of America; the Girl Scouts of the USA; representatives of many other veterans groups and community organizations; and local dignitaries, the release points out.