APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Appleton Memorial Day Parade is going back to its traditional route after three years.
Starting at 9 a.m. on Memorial Day, the parade route will start at the corner of College Avenue and Appleton Street. It will head east on College Avenue to Meade Street, north on Meade Street to Pacific Street, and east on Pacific Street ending at the corner of Pacific Street and Owaissa Street.
“It’s so important that we’re back on the regular route and back to our tradition of hosting the Appleton Memorial Day parade and ceremony as we have for so many years,” said Eric Stadler, Appleton Parade Committee Assistant Chair. “While we did a virtual version and it worked, there’s nothing like having 50,000 people lining the streets of Appleton and being able to watch that procession come through…Remembering what the meaning of their passing means for the freedoms that we experience every day, whether it be freedom of speech or so many other things that we’re given the privilege to do, we take those things for granted. might be reminded of of the mourning that they are experiencing.”
“The Appleton Memorial Day Parade provides our community with an opportunity to honor the service and sacrifice behind American rights and freedoms,” said Corey Otis, Appleton Parade Committee Chairperson. “Finally, we can come together again and collectively pay our proper respects to those who died while serving our country.”
Then the “Moment of Remembrance” ceremony will immediately following the parade in Appleton’s historic Riverside Cemetery, at the George D. Eggleston, G.A.R. monument – 714 North Owaissa Street.
A short, second ceremony will take place after the city’s ceremony, at the Appleton American Legion Post No. 38 plot. This plot is located at the entrance of the St. Joseph Cemetery within Riverside Cemetery.
Connor Romberg, a 17-year-old junior at Fox Valley Lutheran High School, will present this year’s keynote address at the “Moment of Remembrance” ceremony.
“We thought it was important to get that feedback [of what] Memorial Day means to the younger people of our community, and to make sure that they’re understanding what it really means,” Stadler told WTAQ News.
The Fox Valley Veterans Council, Fast Signs, and Great Northern Corporation have partnered to also create a special tribute for Memorial Day. The Fox Valley Veterans Council has long maintained a list of Outagamie County servicemen and women who perished while serving in the United States military from the Civil War to the present.
“They list all of the names of every veteran that died while serving our country that resided in Outagamie County. That is list a few hundred people,” Stadler said. “It will be one of the last units in the parade on purpose, to end the day and that procession with the reminder of what the day is all about.”
This year, Fast Signs designed and produced large banners to display these names for the parade. Great Northern Corporation will drive the banners through the Appleton Memorial Day Parade on a semitruck, which will ultimately park outside the entrance of Riverside Cemetery. Parade spectators are encouraged to read the names of the fallen servicemen and women, remember their sacrifice, and reflect upon their service.
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