Greenwich Resident Is Grand Marshal of Connecticut Veterans Parade

New England’s largest veterans parade will march through the streets of downtown Hartford on Sunday, Nov. 2 and one of the honorary grand marshals is Greenwich resident Mark R. Shenkman.

Nearly 3,000 Connecticut residents will march or ride in the 15th annual Connecticut Veterans Parade, stepping off at 12:30 p.m. near the State Capitol Building in downtown Hartford. The colorful, poignant event will take place one week before the nationwide observance of Veterans Day.

“We encourage state residents to take a few hours to come to our Capital City and say ‘Thank You’ to the dedicated servicemen and women who made sacrifices so we can continue to enjoy our freedom,” Paul F. Pendergast, a U.S. Air Force veteran and the President of the Connecticut Veterans Parade Committee, said in a statement.

Shenkman served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1967-1969 in the newly organized U.S. Army Computer Systems Command, and a generous supporter of veterans programs.

Marching will be Connecticut veterans of many past U.S. conflicts, as well as active soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. This includes the members of the American Legion, VFW Posts, Italian-American Veterans, Hispanic-American Veterans of CT, Inc. (HAVOCT), Korean War Veterans, the Jewish War Veterans, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Borinqueneers, and the Ukrainian American Veterans.

Also featured will be: local veterans groups; patriotic commissions; municipalities; drill teams; pipe & drum and fife & drum corps; and middle, high school, and the Central Connecticut State University Marching Band.

The parade will be preceded at 11:30 a.m. by a Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at Jewell and Trinity streets in Hartford’s Bushnell Park, near a “Garden of Remembrance” flower display. Ceremonial cannon blasts will kick off the parade at 12:30 p.m., and also will conclude a 1:30 p.m. Moment of Silence, when marchers will stop in-place to honor soldiers who died while serving their country. A tolling of church bells and singing of the National Anthem also will mark the end of that Moment of Silence.

Contributed photo: Mark R. Shenkman.

Have a news tip? Email barbara.heins@patch.com. You can also post your own news, events and announcements on Patch by following these directions. Curious about how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.