NORTHAMPTON – The 29th annual Florence holiday parade, held on Saturday, will celebrate the winter holidays with festive floats and Santa Claus — and pay homage to veterans. The parade’s annual commemorative button features an image of a solider and his family with a message: “Salute to Veterans.”
The honor comes after the cancellation of this year’s Northampton Veterans Day parade, a long-standing tradition. It was put on hold for the year because of declining participation among observers and aging marchers, organizers said.
For the past 20 years, the Florence holiday parade has given out a special commemorative button at the event, said Dave Alvord, treasurer of the business division of the Florence Business and Civic Association.
After a particularly large 150th Memorial Day parade and because there was no Veterans Day Parade this year, Alvord said he decided to put the button’s focus on veterans.
“We thought this year would be nice to do a theme of veterans,” he said, adding that the group should be recognized all year. “Their thing is year-round. It’s not just one day,” Alvord said.
Mike Flynn, the parade’s coordinator, echoed Alvord’s points, adding that focusing the pin’s message clearly on one particular group is unprecedented. “They’ve never done that before – it’s usually a holiday greeting,” he said.
“I think it’s a real positive thing – we’re grateful,” said Steven Connor, director of Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services who’s been helping organize the Veterans Day parade for more than a decade. He added that after the Gazette’s coverage of the Veterans Day parade cancellation, he heard from other nearby communities having similar struggles with Veterans Day parade attendance.
“It seems to be a struggle for many of the communities in western Massachusetts … This is nice that they’re doing this to honor the veterans in Northampton,” he said.
In keeping with tradition, the Florence Veterans of Foreign Wars color guard will lead the parade, Flynn said. The event will start at 10 a.m. at Trinity Park on Main Street and end at the Florence Civic Center where a celebration, including a visit from Santa Claus, will take place.
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com