After a year’s pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bellevue-Dayton Memorial Day Parade will make its triumphant return this Monday at 10:30 a.m. The parade, now celebrating its 92nd occasion, will begin on Sixth Avenue in Dayton and finish at the Bellevue Veterans Club on Fairfield Avenue.
Since the parade is a joint effort between the two communities of Dayton and Bellevue, memorial services will be held in both towns. Dayton will host the pre-parade memorial service at the Dayton Monument at 10 a.m. Along with a rifle salute and a presentation of the American flag, Dayton Mayor Ben Baker will make remarks.
Over in Bellevue, the Bellevue Veterans Club will host the post parade memorial service at 11:30 a.m. with club president Steve Brun speaking and a placing of the wreath by the Bellevue Veterans Club, its Ladies Auxiliary and V.F.W Post 2899.
Because of the parade’s hiatus, this year will also feature two grand marshals, Vietnam War veterans Marty Mayer and Ed Ulsas will both be honored this year for their outstanding contributions to the community.
If the parade’s starting point at the Dayton intersection of Sixth Avenue and Main Street looks a little different, it’s because a recent community project to celebrate Memorial Day was completed, a press release says. In order to honor the occasion and send the parade off in patriotic fashion, the corners and crosswalks of the intersection were painted red, white and blue by community volunteers, the Dayton Main Street Board and Yard & Company.
Dayton Mayor Baker expressed his anticipation in a recent press release.
“Dayton and Bellevue are very patriotic communities, and the Memorial Day Parade is a long tradition in our cities, and we are excited to see this annual event return to our communities after a one-year hiatus caused by the pandemic,” Baker says.
