The Phoenix Veteran’s Day Parade, which is organized by Valley nonprofit Honoring America’s Veterans, will return to North Central Monday, Nov. 11, kicking off at 11 a.m. A map with the parade route can be found on the nonprofit’s website (submitted photo).
They are a tradition in North Central Phoenix: parades are a way to gather and mark special occasions with floats, marching bands, lights, costumes and street vendors. There’s a man who is known for roller skating along the parade routes. There are grade schoolers who ride their bikes trying to outrun him, and there are little kids being transported via fancy strollers and Radio Flyer red wagons. Some families set up grills to cook hot dogs.
When Eluvia Marroquin worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, she would round up night shift colleagues and their kids and grandkids and they would all meet at the same grassy area each year along North Central Avenue to watch the Veteran’s Day Parade. One year, they managed to attend the Fiesta Bowl Parade, but, as the hospital worker put it, “It happens during flu season and we usually had to work double shifts so we missed it most years.”
Marroquin is now retired, but her tradition continues.
“The kids have grown up and many of us adults now use walkers, but the Veteran’s Day Parade makes us proud to be Americans,” said the native of Guatemala, a U.S. citizen since 1999. “I will attend as long as I am able.”
Even the crabby drivers who grouse about parade street closures admit that parades through town are part of a grand tradition in North Central Phoenix. A long-time resident of the area is one of those drivers. After complaining about traffic on parade days, he said, “OK, I’ll admit it. I love to see the veterans and the little kids and the marching bands. I’ve learned to read the paper and know when the parades are happening. Now I just plan around them.”
The Phoenix Veteran’s Day Parade started in 2017. Every year, it is held on Nov. 11, and starts at 11 a.m. There is a special significance to that date and time. Paula Pedene, a retired US Navy veteran who has organized the parade since its inception, explains, “November 11 is known as Armistice Day, and on that date, at 11 a.m., the Peace Treaty that ended World War I was signed.”
The parade is known as Honoring America’s Veterans, and is backed by a nonprofit organization of the same name (https://honoringamericasveterans.org/phoenix-veterans-day-parade). Volunteers work to organize and raise money for the parade all year, and are led by Pedene and a volunteer board of directors. Pedene is quick to acknowledge “all our generous sponsors and volunteers who make this happen – it’s a huge effort, and our veterans are worth every bit of it.”
Other parades in Phoenix include the APS Electric Light Parade (Dec. 7 with step-off time 7 p.m. this year), the Fiesta Bowl Parade (Dec. 28 at 10 a.m.; visit www.fiestabowl.org) and the Phoenix Pride Parade (held Oct. 20 this year; visit https://phoenixpride.org/events/pride-parade). The APS Electric Light Parade is produced and coordinated by the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department (www.phoenix.gov/parks/special-events/electric-light-parade) and is a rain or shine event attended by thousands of people, many of them arriving along the route during the early afternoon to claim their viewing spots.
Some parade goers use light rail to get to their destinations along the parade route, while others have their favorite parking spots on side streets.
“Regardless of which parade you’re attending, we ask that you are respectful of neighbors who live in neighborhoods along the route. Don’t block their driveways and pick up any trash you see,” said Pedene.
And that cranky guy who claims to hate parades and their street closures? “OK, OK, I’m kinda looking forward to the Veteran’s Day Parade. I always look for the veterans. The older vets may struggle to stand, but they do it. And they take off their caps and put them over their hearts. Brings a tear to my eye. Makes me think of my uncles. The Pearl Harbor guys – they’ve attended for years. But every year there are fewer of them. Even after they’re gone, we’ll salute them.”
