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July 4th Parade - 1,000 veterans for
parade
Monday, June 09, 2008
The red-white-and-blue stickers passed out on Memorial Day to
veterans with walking sticks proclaimed the owners to be "One in a
Thousand," but marchers in the Bangor parade didn’t quite make it to
that total — yet.
More than 900 veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the
Vietnam War marched or rode in the parade, said Galen Cole, founder of
the Cole Land Transportation Museum, which distributes the walking
sticks and the stickers.
"The vets filled Main Street, from the Bangor House down to the
beginning of State Street," Cole said.
But volunteers are convinced they can round up more than 1,000 for
the next effort, the Fourth of July parade in Brewer and Bangor.
"As it always is each year, it will be the biggest and the best,"
Cole said.
To keep the veterans involved, volunteers will again distribute the
"One in a Thousand" reflective stickers for 2008, even to those who
already have one for their walking stick.
And, Cole added, a new incentive to walk or ride in the 11 a.m.
parade will be the gift of "Quiet Courage" to each participant, the
museum’s book by Don Colson profiling 89 Maine veterans of various wars.
There will be tables set up before the parade from 9:30 to 10:55
a.m. on the lawn near Brewer municipal pool on Wilson Street, Cole said.
Veterans in the parade may pick up their book, or obtain a slip if
they’d rather get their book later at the museum rather than carry it
during the parade.
Veterans may march or ride in one of three buses provided by First
Student.
"Every veteran who takes part will get a book," Cole said.
"The Colson book includes not only stories of individual veterans,
but also pictures, including [World War I] vets with full field packs
approaching the Bangor RR Station, [World War II], Korea and Vietnam
veterans. Also included are Dow Field, Bangor parades, the Washington,
D.C., military memorials, plus several color shots of Bangor’s 50th
anniversary of the end of World War II parade in 1995."
All told, Cole Museum has distributed a total of 4,575 maple walking
sticks from Peavey Manufacturing to Maine veterans of World War II, the
Korean War and the Vietnam War.
At times the supply has been exhausted, but that’s not the case now,
Cole said.
"We’re well-equipped" to continue to give a walking stick to Maine
veterans of these wars, he said.
Daily through July 3, Maine veterans who plan to take part in the
July 4 parade may bring identification and stop by the museum between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. at 405 Perry Road, Bangor.
The program started out with only World War II sticks. The museum
puts the names and addresses of recipients in a database so they can
send mailings about parade opportunities.
But WWII veterans, now older than 80, are dying off.
In recent years, the museum has added walking stick programs for
Korean and Vietnam War veterans, drawing large numbers of them to
parades as well.
There’s nothing like being in the parades as thousands of spectators
applaud nonstop for the veterans, Cole said. |
