Chappaqua's John Cirillo Takes a Look at Town's Memorial Day Parade

Black and white, brown and yellow, young and old, men, women, children, and canines, gathered to honor those who serve the red, white and blue late Monday morning. The town’s people of Chappaqua assembled at the bottom of the King’s Street hill for a regal salute to those who risk their lives, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice, at the annual Memorial Day parade in this tony Westchester village.

The 10:30 am start time was seemingly delayed until 11:10 am, unless we had checked the wrong schedule. Finally the sirens screamed, as did the crowd, and the parade was underway.

Fran and a feisty pooch Finn anxiously awaited for the parade to begin. Notable canines who were in attendance included:Sadie, Red, Cody and Nessie, the latter two appropriately wearing blue bandanas. All participated in the pre-parade photo opportunity. Dave, Leslie and Josh missed the proceedings, believing the forecast had called for a postponement.

The Viet Nam war veterans, as is customary, led this parade, and we missed our neighbors Michael and Laurie Green, their feet now Aiken while marching in South Carolina today. But former President Bill Clinton, presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Governor Andrew Cuomo more than ably picked up for any slack. The Clintons, sans political agenda, have regularly marched since moving to Chappaqua in 1999 to honor the fallen.

Following the Viet Nam heroes came the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, high school bands complete with trombones, bugles, trumpets, and assorted horns – favorite son Rich Rose, now living in Florida, would have been proud – Firemen, Policemen, Emergency Service Workers, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers and veterans who make the grand old U.S.A. the land of the free, and the home of the brave. God Bless America. The applause and barks resonated from both sides of King’s Street, from the top of the hill to the bottom, and on into town.

The girl scouts marched with glee as they skipped down the hill; the trombones and bugles were seemingly all in tune on this illustrious morning; the proud veterans waved from vintage tanks and autos. The downpours from the night before were past history, though a drop or two did spit at us while we waited for the start.

A boy scout, exhausted from the proceedings, sipped on a soft drink, but like all in attendance was buoyed by what had transpired.

A lone dachshund dashed down the street with his Master as the parade concluded, this little hot dog was sniffing in the afterglow of pride for service. Now it was time for hot dogs of the edible variety, baseball, and apple pie at Memorial Day barbecues across the land. But together we remembered what the true meaning of Memorial Day is, and said thank you for serving.