Nearly 10,000 residents gathered under cloudless skies Monday at the 97th annual Arlington Heights Memorial Day parade.
For Greg Padovani, a U.S. Army veteran and chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee of Arlington Heights, the picture-perfect weather and happy crowds of local families was a welcome change from the 2015 event, when severe storms forced the cancellation of the parade.
“With the beautiful weather, I’m thinking to myself, ‘just pinch me,'” said Padovani, who helped orchestrate the roughly 3,000 participants in the parade, which included hundreds of veterans, marching bands from John Hersey and Buffalo Grove high schools, and scores of local scouting groups.
The parade also featured a visit from U.S. Army Sgt. Jason Smith, 30, who lost his legs while serving in Afghanistan, and who has forged close ties with Hersey students, who have raised money and helped build handicapped-accessible homes for two veterans in their hometowns in Tennessee, Padovani said.
Led by Rear Admiral Stephen Evans, the parade’s grand marshal, the first wave of marchers in the parade featured members of the U.S. military, including those in active duty, the reserves, and veterans, Padovani said.
The parade ended at Memorial Park at 110 W. Fremont St., where 1,000 residents attended an 11 a.m. ceremony, which honored the 58 fallen military heroes from the village, 37 of whom died in service during World War II.
“Back when it started in 1919, the parade was just a way to bring people to the park for the village’s Memorial Day ceremony,” Padovani said. “This year’s Memorial Day in Arlington Heights was a really nice day for a whole lot of people. But for nine families who lost their sons, and who attended our ceremony, they are so appreciative of our town, and it means so much to them that we still remember.”
kcullotta@tribpub.com
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