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Sunday, May 25th, 2008
Celebrating Memorial Day
I remember as a young child (and I'm not sure how much of this memory really happened) my brother spent hours decorating his bike for the big Morris Memorial Day parade with an amazing baseball decor (truly amazing since he grew up to hate sports). When he biked by it was clear he had one of the best decorated bikes in the bunch....a shoe-in to win a first place prize for "Best Decorated Bike". At the awards ceremony he walked away with nothing...because my parents forgot to officially enter it. Heart breaking (although it may have saved some of his future social life).
I went on to march in many Morris Memorial Day parades both as a cub/boy scout and a trombone player in the Wamogo High School band. Since then, I have sort of lost touch with memorial day until this weekend.
I admit...if my job did not force me to cover the weekend happenings I would miss out on what were some amazing events. Yesterday I was treated to the site of Camp Butler National Cemetery in its full glory. Boy Scouts have placed flags on every gravestone making the entire presentation something I think everyone should take a few minutes out of their and just drive through it. Breathtaking.
Today I was fortunate to be able to cover a large National Guard Unit coming home from a year in Iraq. A group organized 60 convertibles to drive the troops around Springfield...and they paraded with police escort downtown. While the crowd was no Macy's Day Parade I was impressed with those who did show up since a thunderstorm had approached the city. Actually a bolt of lightning hit so close to me it sort of knocked me back. It felt very American to be able to welcome these guys home on a patriotic weekend. I was also very happy that channel 20 put in alot of resources to have team coverage of this groups arrival (we had two reporters (including me), and three cameras on the event from the airport to the convention center.
I know most people reading most likely did not do something to honor troops this weekend....but if you have a few minutes tomorrow...check out the local parade or write a letter to a soldier overseas!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!
Celebrating Memorial Day
I remember as a young child (and I'm not sure how much of this memory really happened) my brother spent hours decorating his bike for the big Morris Memorial Day parade with an amazing baseball decor (truly amazing since he grew up to hate sports). When he biked by it was clear he had one of the best decorated bikes in the bunch....a shoe-in to win a first place prize for "Best Decorated Bike". At the awards ceremony he walked away with nothing...because my parents forgot to officially enter it. Heart breaking (although it may have saved some of his future social life).
I went on to march in many Morris Memorial Day parades both as a cub/boy scout and a trombone player in the Wamogo High School band. Since then, I have sort of lost touch with memorial day until this weekend.
I admit...if my job did not force me to cover the weekend happenings I would miss out on what were some amazing events. Yesterday I was treated to the site of Camp Butler National Cemetery in its full glory. Boy Scouts have placed flags on every gravestone making the entire presentation something I think everyone should take a few minutes out of their and just drive through it. Breathtaking.
Today I was fortunate to be able to cover a large National Guard Unit coming home from a year in Iraq. A group organized 60 convertibles to drive the troops around Springfield...and they paraded with police escort downtown. While the crowd was no Macy's Day Parade I was impressed with those who did show up since a thunderstorm had approached the city. Actually a bolt of lightning hit so close to me it sort of knocked me back. It felt very American to be able to welcome these guys home on a patriotic weekend. I was also very happy that channel 20 put in alot of resources to have team coverage of this groups arrival (we had two reporters (including me), and three cameras on the event from the airport to the convention center.
I know most people reading most likely did not do something to honor troops this weekend....but if you have a few minutes tomorrow...check out the local parade or write a letter to a soldier overseas!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!
And by the way, the bike decoration, I believe, was the last thing I really tried to do well. :)