The annual Strasburg Memorial Day Parade will take place on at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 27. The procession will include representatives from various local service organizations, marching bands, veterans and active-duty members of the armed forces, as well as any member of the community who wishes to take part in the event.

Parade participants will begin to gather along Clearview Drive in Strasburg at 8 a.m. Additional floats will not be accepted after the start of the parade. The procession will follow its traditional route through downtown Strasburg, making its first stop at Wesley United Methodist Church's cemetery on West Main Street. Parade spectators will be asked to pay respect to the many veterans buried at the cemetery by observing a moment of silence before the parade resumes. The convoy will make its second stop at the graveyard at Saint Michael's Lutheran Church, 40 E. Main St., Strasburg, where participants will observe a second moment of silence to honor the veterans buried within. Members of local Girl Scout troops will place flowers at each cemetery. After visiting both churches, the parade will proceed to the War Memorial in Strasburg's town square, where a color guard comprising local veterans will facilitate a flag-changing ceremony.

After the conclusion of the parade, all attendees will be invited to walk to Strasburg Cemetery, 50 W. Franklin St., Strasburg, for a Memorial Day service at 10:30 a.m. The service will feature an address from guest speaker Vince Turner, who will discuss the meaning and significance of the holiday. In the event that the parade is canceled due to inclement weather, the memorial service will take place in the fellowship hall of First Presbyterian Church of Strasburg, 101 S. Decatur St., at 10:30 a.m.

Every year, the parade includes performances from the Lampeter-Strasburg Community Band and the Lampeter-Strasburg High School and the Martin Meylin Middle School marching bands. Strasburg residents who live on Main Street are encouraged to adorn their yards with flags and patriotic decorations prior to the parade. Members of local Boy Scout troops, the Strasburg Lodge of Odd Fellows and volunteers from the community will place flags provided by the National VFW along the parade route.

"It's just a good old-fashioned community parade," said Brian Barr, parade chairman and member of the Strasburg Area Sertoma Club, which organizes the event every year. "A lot of it is farm tractors and pickup trucks, and people are always lined up in rows from the beginning of the parade route to the end."

The Strasburg Memorial Day Parade is a community tradition started by the Paul R. Strubel VFW Post 8710 more than 70 years ago to honor the veterans who fought in the Civil War. Members of the local Sertoma Club took over coordination of the event roughly 16 years ago, and they continue to host it annually and collaborate with former members of the VFW post, which is no longer active.

For more information or to register a parade float, contact Barr at sgt30th@yahoo.com.