Keeping Memorial Day Alive

Some towns have had more trouble over the years keeping the spirit of Memorial Day alive then others. In some towns, the interest dwindles until only a few people gather on the village green to remember the fallen.

Other towns, like the village we now play in every year, the people are packed in shoulder to shoulder through the center of town so that the band can barely get through.

The secret? It’s the kids. The Girl Scouts. The Boy Scouts. The Daisy Scouts (they’re so cute). The Pee Wee League. The Little League. The high school band. And of course, the fire department and the first aid squad can always be depended on them.

Veterans may be dwindling, but the kids just go on forever. More and more of them, every year. And the moms and dads are out there to take their pictures. Tell the kids to just to stand on the sidelines and they’ll squiggle and squirm to go home.

Get them involved, get them out there, and you’ll have a crowd like this town’s, and the town yesterday. These towns were very different economically. One is a working class, blue-collar town; the other, strictly upper middle-class, white collar.

No matter; they all have kids and they all turn out.

And that is the secret to the future of successful Memorial Day Parades. Veterans associations, please take note.