Veterans Day parade set for downtown Sarasota

The city of Sarasota will partner with the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee to host its annual Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 11, in downtown.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Osprey Avenue and move westward on Main Street, ending at Gulfstream Avenue. Festivities will culminate with an 11 a.m. ceremony at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park at the corner of Gulfstream Avenue and Main Street, recognizing the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, which was when the armistice was signed in 1918 to mark the end of World War I. 

This year’s parade theme is “We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.” 

The ceremony will feature guest speaker Carlos Moreira, who spent 15 years on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. 

The parade will include the color guards from the Sarasota Police Department, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and Sarasota County Fire Department; antique military vehicles; marching bands and students from Sarasota Military Academy, Booker, Riverview, Sarasota and Venice high schools; North Port Young Marines; Boy Scouts of America; Girl Scouts of the USA; and several veteran groups, community organizations and local dignitaries.

A medley of patriotic songs will be performed by Master Sgt. Robert McDonald, retired lead singer for the U.S. Army Chorus, and the Sarasota Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Holt, retired director of the U.S. Army Chorus.

Because the parade and the Sarasota Farmers Market will occur at the same time, as gaps open in the parade Sarasota police officers will escort pedestrians across Main Street.