Events to honor county's veterans
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 11, 2015 1:50 AM
Veterans Day is still nearly five weeks away, but Wayne County Veterans and Patriots Coalition members are encouraging the public to go ahead and sign up units for the annual Veterans Day Parade.
The parade, which dates back to about 1972, will be held Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m.
"We have a goal this year of 125 entries," Coalition member Bill Graham said. "Last year we had 119. So we are seeking 125, and we want to go ahead and get the word out. We have the distinction this year of being the first organization to go down the new Center Street.
"We are going to begin our lineup there at Center Street at Chestnut Street. We are going to come all the way up the north side of Center, around the Ash Street circle, back down South Center to Walnut Street. Then we are going over to James Street and back down to Chestnut. It winds back up where we started."
Because of the Streetscape project, the Coalition will not be able to use a flatbed trailer on Center Street for the reviewing stand as has been done over the past few years, he said.
"We have been graciously invited to have the reviewing stand up on the Terrace Room (balcony) at Waynesborough House," Graham said. "We are looking for a good day with it."
Chief Master Sgt. Jeffrey Craver, command chief with the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, will be the parade grand marshal.
A speaker for the event has not yet been announced.
All local high school bands and ROTC units are expected to participate, Graham said.
Others expected to participate include Disabled American Veterans, Marine Corps League, American Legion and VFW posts, Sudan Shriners Mini-Rigs, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office bus with World War II Honor Flight veterans and the Goldsboro Police and Fire departments.
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base will have units in the parade, too, Graham said.
"We are trying, no confirmation yet, but we are trying to incorporate the Marine Corps, Navy and the Army," Graham said.
The Daughters of the American Revolution, David Williams Chapter, will host a reception at the Wayne County Museum at noon on Nov. 11.
At 1 p.m., the Daughters of the American Revolution will conduct a memorial service at the Veterans Memorial downtown.
The service will include a wreath-laying ceremony.
For more information, or to enter a unit, call Wayne County Veterans Services at 919-731-1490 or Graham at 919-394-2200.
Applications are available online at waynegov.com. Click on Dept (I-Z) and scroll down to Veterans Services. On the left hand side of the page click on "Veterans Day Parade Information and Photo Gallery."
Nov. 6 is the deadline for parade entry applications.
"One stipulation on parade entries, all are invited, but they must display a patriotic theme," Graham said. "It is not one that has a rain date on it. If it is raining that morning pretty significantly with no chance of clearing up, the parade will not go on. Other than that -- cold, heat, it will go.
"If it is something like we are looking at a forecast for it to clear up early on, it will go ahead. We are not going to call it off too early by any means. But if it is a good steady downpour it will not go on. We have too many electrical components and too many older folks involved in it to be out in that."
Graham is encouraging people to enter a unit in the parade and to attend any of the free events open to the public that day.