Intersection of Main Street and Osprey will be starting point for parade
Members of the public are invited to attend the annual Veterans Day parade in downtown Sarasota on Wednesday, Nov. 11, starting at 10 a.m., the City of Sarasota has announced.
Hosted by the city in conjunction with the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee, the parade will begin at the intersection of Main Street and Osprey Avenue, a news release says. At the conclusion of the parade, a ceremony will be held at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park, located at the intersection of Main Street and Gulfstream Avenue; it will begin at approximately 11 a.m., the release notes.
“The parade and ceremony will continue Sarasota’s longstanding history of honoring military personnel,” the release adds. Among the participants expected in the parade are those representing veterans service organizations, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, local high school Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps programs and civic organizations; color guards; marching bands; and people driving historical military equipment, the release continues.
Temporary street closures for the downtown Sarasota parade will begin at 6 a.m. Nov. 11. For a list of those closures, click here.
The theme for the 2015 Veterans Day ceremony is When Duty Calls, the release notes.
Retired U.S. Army Col. Stephen D. Cork will be the keynote speaker, the release adds. Cork served in staff and command positions in Germany and Vietnam and throughout the United States, the release says. Following his retirement from the military, he was employed by Sarasota County as the public works director and general services director, the release continues. Cork also was a founding member of the Sarasota Military Academy.