| Memorial Day Parade, May 26th |
- The Big Parade
- Time: 11:00 AM
- Location: Main Street, Clarence
- Contact: E-mail Julie Porter
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Memorial Day burst upon us with clear, sunny blue skies. At about 10:30 AM Julie unfurled our Clarence1973 marching banner adjacent to the High School, and the crowd started to gather. After a few awkward moments of trying to guess each other's names we were all smiling and joking. Cathy Lofgren, Kathy Ernst and Lynn Van Nuys came in from the Rochester area, Lenore Mathias travelled from near Philadelphia. Mixed in with this group were Clarence homesteaders Jeff Deal, Dave Hormell, Tim and Julie Porter, Gail Hughes, and Jeff Chudy from nearby Williamsville. Only Kathy Ernst and Lynn Van Nuys had a spouse willing to march with us in support. (At least Lynn claims he was a willing volunteer).
Lining up between the ambulance following the High School Band, and some old geezers in old cars, we set off down Main Street. This was good because the ambulance had water and defibrillators, while the geezers help make us look younger. At first we were unsure if all the kids were cheering and waving at us or the firemen throwing candy from the ambulance... After little debate we agreed that it was us! We saw many fellow classmates, friends, old teachers and family along the way. Noting that there were only a dozen or so of us marching, we overheard someone in the crowd ask if we were all that remained from the class. We assured them that there were more.
At the Town Park we met up with Budd Bailey, Norma James Jolls, and Frank Sausner and others. After the completion of the Memorial Day ceremonies we milled about with family and friends, and then we each drifted away for the rest of our holiday plans. You can see pictures on the photo album pages.
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