City of Appleton Memorial Day Parade Update
The City of Appleton’s annual Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony is scheduled for Monday, May 30th, 2016. The parade route will be east on College Avenue from Appleton Street to Meade Street, north on Meade Street to Pacific Street, east on Pacific Street ending at the corner of Pacific Street and Owaissa Street (at the entrance of Riverside Cemetery).
The 2016 parade will begin (at the corner of College Avenue & Appleton Street, downtown Appleton) at 9:00 AM with the City of Appleton Band playing the National Anthem, followed by a single shot fired by American Legion Post No. 38’s Scarlet Guard Color Guard.
The Parade will feature local military and veteran groups, scout organizations, military vehicles, municipal organizations, Gold Star family members, local high school bands, and the return of an antique, horse-drawn funeral coach complete with a flag-draped casket (sponsored by Brettschneider-Trettin-Nickel Funeral Home and the Appleton Education Association). Because the Appleton East High School Patriot Marching Band will be marching in our nation’s Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC. the Appleton East High School Orchestra will represent the school by performing in the Appleton Memorial Day Parade. The Appleton East High School Football Team will also be in the Appleton parade carrying a large U.S. Flag.
Immediately following the Parade, all military, veteran, and municipal color and honor guards and the City of Appleton Band will file into Appleton’s historic Riverside Cemetery for a traditional Memorial Day ceremony. The ceremony will include music by the Appleton City Band and bagpiper Mike Dickinson, poignant speeches and poems read by students of the Appleton high schools (Sienna Lehrer of East High School, Erik Bakken of North High School, Kyle Favorite of Fox Valley Lutheran High School, Morgan Gerseth of Xavier High School), a rifle salute and the playing of Taps. The Keynote Speaker will be Mark Vandenberg of Appleton West High School. Other Appleton high school students volunteering to participate in the ceremony will be Eric Kuchelmeister and Gracelyn Rezmer of East High School, Fatima Ali and Josiah Vandenberg of North High School, Andrew Duncombe and Jamie Pritzl of West High School, Megan Getlinger and Natalie Oostenbrug of Fox Valley Lutheran High School, and Cassandra Bunks and Sophia Otto of Xavier High School. The public is encouraged to bring a chair and attend. A second, short ceremony will follow the main ceremony at the Appleton American Legion veterans’ plot (paying tribute to deceased American Legion veterans), which is located at the entrance of St. Joseph’s Cemetery adjacent to Riverside Cemetery in Appleton.
A Lamers Bus Lines trolley bus will transport Gold Star family members, specially selected Appleton high school students (National Honor Society members) participating in the ceremony, and veterans that are unable to march.
Complete event details can be found via the Appleton Memorial Day Parade page on Facebook, or via the parade’s webpage at www.Appleton.org.