The East Valley Veterans Parade Association and the City of Mesa refused to fail, honoring our veterans with a great parade, 11 November 2020. It was a reverse parade this year, with the parade entries positioned along a half-mile stretch of Center Street, in the northbound lane. Mesa Police Department controlled the whole area and controlled the release of cars out of several public parking staging areas at the top of the parade route. It took from 11:00 am, when the first car entered the parade route, until 2:50 pm, when the last vehicle exited the parade route, for all the cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks to drive the parade. Join me for a pictorial review of the parade, with a few remarks to keep us on the parade route.

Many of the parade audience became parade participants, as they decorated their vehicles with flags, streamers, and hand painted banners thanking veterans. There were enough kids and dogs to overcome any cute emergency. There was even a World War II veteran riding in the passenger seat of his son or grandson’s car, just there to see the parade and be part of the event.