The Parade is Coming!

I rarely print press releases “as is” but this is just too cool not to share. Thanks, as always, to CA’s David Greisman for keeping me in the loop.


Veterans Day parade and ceremony in Downtown Columbia on November 11

The Howard County community is invited to honor those actively serving in the U.S. armed forces and the more than 20,000 veterans who call Howard County home at a Veterans Day parade and ceremony on Sunday, November 11 in Downtown Columbia.

The parade will begin at 9:30am, starting at Merriweather Drive and continuing along Little Patuxent Parkway headed toward the Downtown Columbia Lakefront.

A ceremony will follow at 10:45am at the Downtown Columbia Lakefront, featuring comments from Howard County Veterans Foundation President Robert Gillette, Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman, and Columbia Association President/CEO Milton W. Matthews.

There will also be music by a local high school band, performances by the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts’ Young Columbians, and Color Guard provided by Atholton High School’s JROTC.

The event will feature family-friendly activities, including a card-making station for troops and the opportunity to explore vintage military vehicles.

Hot chocolate, coffee and bakery items will be provided for free by event sponsors Clyde’s of Columbia and Whole Foods Market. Additional food can be purchased from nearby food trucks. Flags will be provided to kids by Columbia Association.

The event is organized by the Veterans Day Parade Committee, the Howard County Veterans Foundation, the Howard County Office of Veterans and Military Families, the Howard County Government, the Howard Hughes Corporation, and Columbia Association.

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Reading this put me in mind of a post of mine from 2016 about the Fourth of July, when social media brought out a conversation about flags and parades in Downtown Columbia.

http://villagegreentownsquared.blogspot.com/2016/07/flag-waving.html

I sure hope those folks will turn out for this Veterans Day parade.

My second thought was of last year’s Veterans Day Parade in Old Ellicott City and how perplexingly white it appeared to be, considering the statistics for military service.

http://villagegreentownsquared.blogspot.com/2017/11/a-parade-by-numbers.html

I wrote:

So it’s a relatively new event and next year offers possibilities of improvement. That’s good to hear. Maybe our community can find a way for this parade to bring more people together so that we are honoring and supporting veterans in a way that shows the reality of who we are as a county.

It looks like that’s exactly what will be happening in Downtown Columbia this year.