For the 14th year in a row, the streets of downtown Gainesville will shut down for Memorial Day, as residents line up to remember fallen veterans.

The annual Memorial Day Parade organized by the Paul E. Bolding American Legion Post 7 will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 30, at First Baptist Church on Green Street in Gainesville. The parade will continue down Green Street, traveling to E.E. Butler Parkway and then to Spring Street.

“This year’s parade is going to be just as big as it’s been in the past,” American Legion Post 7 Commander Dave Dellinger said. “For the last two years I believe, the first group left the parade at 10 a.m., when the parade starts, and the last group didn’t leave until about 11:20 a.m. It looks like we’re going to have about the same number of entrants this year.”

The parade includes tributes to fallen veterans, floats and cars with local politicians, plus performances from several Hall County high school bands. This year, 12 military vehicles will be in the parade, spaced out in groups of four.

Veterans groups such as the American Legion join the parade each year, and Dellinger said they have an additional hope for the parade this year.

“When we come down the parade route, there are always veterans standing along the parade route, watching the parade with their hats on reading, ‘Vietnam Veteran,’ ‘U.S. Marines’ and such,” he said. “We would like them to join us in the parade this year. Anybody who is a veteran who’s planning on watching the parade, we would like them to come up to First Baptist Church that morning and we will put them in the parade.”

Dellinger said many groups with trailers or floats have room for veterans who would need a ride to join the parade, or veterans could march.

“Every year, we see all these people out there as we go by,” he said. “But they are veterans! They should be in the parade, not just watching it.”

Later that day, the public is invited to a Memorial Day concert from the Northwinds Symphonic Band.

The annual concert will be at 7:30 p.m. in First Baptist’s sanctuary.

This year’s free concert is titled “An American Veterans’ Tribute,” and will feature American favorites, such as “America, the Beautiful,” “God Bless America,” God Bless the USA,” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

A special tribute to veterans, “America Forever March” will be performed as veterans parade through the sanctuary. The song was composed after the Pearl Harbor attack and was performed on many occasions following it.

For more information on the concert, visit www.theartscouncil.net/affiliates/northwinds.html. For more information on the parade, visit  runsignup.com/Race/GA/Gainesville/GainesvilleMemorialDay
Parade.