Ceremony to follow at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park
The City of Sarasota, in conjunction with the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee, will host the annual Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 11, the city has announced.
The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Osprey Avenue and Main Street in downtown Sarasota; it will move west on Main Street, ending at Gulfstream Avenue, a news release notes.
The festivities will culminate with an 11 a.m. ceremony at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park, which stands at the intersection of Gulfstream Avenue and Main Street, the release continues. That ceremony will mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when the armistice was signed in 1918, ending World War I, the release points out.
This year’s parade theme is We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.
The Hamel Park ceremony will feature Carlos J. Moreira as the guest speaker, the release adds. Moreira spent 15 years on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, during which time he traveled worldwide as he served his country, the release says.
Moreira is director of campus engagement for veteran success and alumni affairs and the chair of the SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society at the University of South Florida, the release notes.
The parade will include the color guards of the Sarasota Police Department, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the Sarasota County Fire Department; antique military vehicles; marching bands and students from Sarasota Military Academy, as well as Booker, Riverview, Sarasota and Venice high schools; members of the North Port Young Marines; representatives of the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA; and members of many other veterans groups and community organizations, plus local dignitaries, the release points out.
A medley of patriotic songs will be performed by Master Sgt. Robert McDonald, retired lead singer of the U.S. Army chorus, and the Sarasota Choral Artists, led by Dr. Joseph Holt, retired director of the U.S. Army Chorus, the release says.
Downtown Sarasota “is expected to be busy with the parade and the Sarasota Farmers Market occurring at the same time,” the release cautions. “Visitors are encouraged to be patient. As gaps open in the parade, Sarasota Police Officers will escort pedestrians across Main Street,” the release notes.
For more information, contact Dan Kennedy, chair of the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee, at 941-812-5406.