Vets urged to join ranks for Memorial Day Parade

John Howell
Posted 5/12/15

Tony Rodrigues has three words for armed service veterans: “join the parade.”

Rodrigues and three others from the Warwick Veterans Council stopped by the Beacon recently to talk about the …

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Vets urged to join ranks for Memorial Day Parade

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Tony Rodrigues has three words for armed service veterans: “join the parade.”

Rodrigues and three others from the Warwick Veterans Council stopped by the Beacon recently to talk about the Memorial Day Parade to take place Monday, May 25. Like other Memorial Day parades in the past decade, the line of march will form shortly after 8:30 a.m. at the Bishop Hendricken parking lot off Oakland Beach Avenue and, after stepping off at 9:15, proceed to West Shore Road to Veterans Memorial High School. The parade is less than a mile, but for whatever reasons the ranks of veterans has continued to drop over the years.

There was a time when different American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Jewish Veterans Posts sponsored the Memorial Day Parade. But veteran posts have closed, and with the veterans’ park outside Vets High School that’s become the favored spot to end the Memorial Day Parade.

“Once they built the park that was it. We had one spot,” said Rodrigues.

The Warwick Veterans Council isn’t fussy about veterans joining the parade. They want to honor those who have served and have them recognized for their service by their neighbors, friends and the community. Veterans needn’t be in uniform, and if they are disabled or don’t want to walk the distance rides will be arranged.

In fact, Rodrigues volunteers Paul Kelley’s van. A retired submariner, Kelley is a regular in organizing and participating in the parade. He finds it difficult to understand why more veterans don’t participate.

“It really gets me to see them watching it when they should be a part of it,” he said.

“Get them off the curb and get them into the parade,” adds James Burrows, who served as a military police with the 101st Airborne from 1974 to 1977.

Four bands will be marching in the parade. Bands from the city’s three high schools plus Johnston High. Rodrigues expects Warwick Police will have a color guard, but he’s uncertain about the firefighters.

“Warwick Fire used to march all the time,” he said, “but not in the last few years.”

Rodrigues also expects a good turnout from the Boy and Girl Scouts. Dancing schools and the Don Rodrigues Karate Academy will likewise be in the lineup.

Grand marshal for the parade with be Kelley’s daughter, Christine Kelley, the first female in the Warwick Police Department to reach the rank of major.

Rodrigues put out the invitation to elected officials, and he’s waiting to hear from members of the state’s congressional delegation. Senator Jack Reed won’t be able to make it, he said.

The Veterans Council runs the parade on a $2,750 city appropriation. Funds are used to reimburse schools for their bands, buying wreaths for various memorials throughout the city and for the refreshments given participants at the end of the parade.

Rodrigues said the Veterans Council has also gotten strong support from his sister, City Council President Donna Travis, and Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkinson. The Elks and the Masons have helped, too, he said.

But, as Rodrigues observes, finances play a role in the parade.

“There’s a limit to what we can do,” he said.

There’s no limit to veterans joining the parade.

Rodrigues urged veterans to call any of the four committee members planning the event for further details or just to let them know they will be coming. His phone numbers are 737-1909 and 919-8951; Kelley can be reached at 738-1891; Burrows at 585-5665 and Peter Peckham at 943-2189.

  

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