Media Contact: Jan Thornburg, Senior Communications Manager, 941-263-6369, jan.thornburg@sarasotafl.gov

UPDATE (Nov. 10):  The parade will be held as planned.

Sarasota, FL: The City of Sarasota, in conjunction with the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee, will host its annual Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Osprey Avenue in downtown Sarasota and will move east to west on Main Street, ending at Gulfstream Avenue.

The 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 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month when the armistice was signed in 1918, ending World War I. 

This year’s parade theme is “Home of the Free because of the Brave.” The ceremony will feature as guest speaker Dr. Thomas McElheny, a Sarasota businessman and chairperson of the Sarasota Military Academy Board of Directors. He served seven years as a U.S. Marine. A presentation on the Glenn Miller project will be provided by Dr. James  D’Angelo, chairman of the Board of the International Midway Memorial Foundation.

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; students from Sarasota Military Academy, Booker, Riverview, Sarasota and Venice high schools, Sarasota Academy of the Arts and Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble; North Port Young Marines; Boy Scouts of America; Girl Scouts of the USA; and many other veterans groups, community organizations and local dignitaries.

For more information, contact Dan Kennedy, Patriotic Observance Committee Chairman, at 941-812-5406.

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About the City of Sarasota:  Distinguished by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 10 Best Places to Live in the U.S. and the number one place in Florida, the City of Sarasota is a diverse and inclusive community located on Florida’s Suncoast with 56,000 year-round residents, several internationally recognized cultural arts venues, stunning sunsets along Lido Beach and Major League spring training baseball with the Baltimore Orioles. Learn more about us at www.SarasotaFL.Gov