Four veterans have volunteered to bolster the Annandale Veterans Honor Guard for the annual Memorial Day Parade, and leader Mike Aitchison hopes even more than that will turn out. The honor guard for years has led Annandale’s parade and fired rifle salutes in ceremonies at Pleasant Lake and Woodlawn Ceremony. But Aitchison said last month he didn’t have enough people because some regular members weren’t expected to participate this year, and he ran a "help needed" notice for several weeks on the Advocate’s classified ad page. He barely had enough veterans last year, he said, and some had to do double duty as flag guards and riflemen in the salutes. By the middle of last week he had received "four good responses" to his appeal for reinforcements, Aitchison said, so he was hopeful four or more additional people will participate when the parade begins at 10 a.m. Monday, May 31. "The more the better," he said. "It won’t be our biggest year, but it should be good." Usual route The parade will follow the usual route, Aitchison said, starting at Annandale Middle School, moving west on Chestnut Street and north on Main to Annandale Municipal Park for a brief ceremony at Pleasant Lake. Then it will retrace its steps to Park Street and proceed east to Woodlawn Cemetery and the American Legion Memorial. The procession will be without the Annandale High School marching band, which was canceled for this summer because not enough students were interested. But the Annandale Community Band will step in to provide music at the cemetery and the lake, though it won’t march in the parade. Director Ken Rudolph said he anticipates 20 to 25 members at the cemetery where one of their selections will be "God Bless America." A group of brass players will be at the lake, band member Zane Schaefer said. Drumline AHS band director Lee Peterson has offered to provide a drumline and two trumpet players instead of the marching band, Aitchison said. Boy Scout Troop 354 and Cub Scouts from packs 754 and 354 will participate as usual, Scoutmaster Jerry Carter said, and they’ll have a flag retirement ceremony at the cemetery afterward. Rev. Victor Valencia, pastor of St. Ignatius Church, will recite a prayer at the cemetery, Aitchison said, and Leah Nibbe, a 4-H Club member from Howard Lake, will be the speaker. Earlier in the Memorial Day weekend, honor guard members will place American flags on the graves of veterans at Woodlawn and most of the other nine area cemeteries The ninth annual Boy Scout Troop 354 pancake breakfast will be sponsored by the Annandale Lions Club from 8 a.m. to noon at the municipal park pavilion. Veterans and soldiers on active duty will eat for free.
