2019 event theme honors bandleader and soldier Glenn Miller
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 27, in downtown Sarasota.
The parade will start at the intersection of Main Street and Osprey Avenue and conclude at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park, located at the intersection of Main Street and Gulf Stream Avenue, a news release says.
A ceremony will be held at approximately 11 a.m. in Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park, the release adds. The public is encouraged to attend the events.
The theme for this Memorial Day observance is In Memory of Many, in Honor of All: Honoring Glenn Miller, the release points out. Glenn Miller was a renowned musician and bandleader who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and was assigned to lead the U.S. Army Air Force Band, the release explains. “He disappeared on a flight from England to Paris. Neither the airplane nor Miller’s remains have been recovered, the release notes.
Dr. Dennis Spragg, author of Glenn Miller: Declassified, will be the keynote speaker for the ceremony in the park, the release says. “Published in 2018, the book focuses on Miller’s lost flight and the impact of Miller’s music on the Greatest Generation,” the release adds.
Prior to the start of the ceremony, the Sarasota Jazz Band will play Glenn Miller-inspired music from the World War II era, the release points out.
The parade will include marching bands; color guards from the Sarasota Police Department, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the Sarasota County Fire Department; members of the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA; and representatives of veterans groups, community organizations and local dignitaries, the release says.