Aurora is set to celebrate Memorial Day with its annual parade in the city’s downtown on Monday, May 25.
The parade will begin at the intersection of Benton Street and River Street at 10 a.m., according to a city news release. Free parking is available throughout downtown Aurora, and officials are encouraging visitors to arrive before 9:30 a.m. to have enough time to find parking and a place to view the parade.
Longtime community member and U.S. Marine Corps veteran James “Jim” Butler will serve as the parade’s grand marshal.
Butler joined the Marine Corps in 1959 and served in Okinawa, Japan, with the 3rd Recon Battalion, the news release said. He returned home in 1963, married his wife, Rosemarie, and had six children.
From 1963 until his retirement in 2012, Butler worked for the John Sexton Company, where he started as a laborer and worked up to be the company’s general manager, according to the news release.
He continues to be active in the community, serving as a member of the Fox Valley Marine Corps League, the Blue Cap Foundation Charity Invitational, Roosevelt Aurora American Legion Post 84 and AMVETS Post 103, city officials said. Butler was also a member of the Aurora Veterans Advisory Council.
The parade is set to feature local veterans groups and military organizations, including the Roosevelt Aurora American Legion Post 84, Fox Valley Marines Detachment 1233, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Commission, according to the city news release.
Marching bands are expected to attend from East Aurora High School, West Aurora High School, Metea Valley High School, Granger Middle School and Hill Elementary School, along with the Aurora Roosevelt American Legion Band, officials said.
Others set to participate in the parade include the Lamplighters Barbershop Chorus, Costumers with a Cause, the Phillips Park Zoo, the Aurora Public Library’s Bookmobile, the East Aurora NJROTC, the West Aurora High School Cheer Team and Diamond Dance Academy.
