The annual Hillsborough Memorial Day parade has a reliably small town feel that mixes civic pride with the sentiment of the day. This year was pretty much just like last year described here. The vintage cars, police cars (including the Atherton Mustang), fire trucks, vintage Recology truck, etc. were out in force in the sunshine. We had the full complement of politicians looking a bit sheepish sitting on the backs of convertibles–Mullin, Becker, Papan, and Pine. The vets in uniform looked much more at ease as they were driven along.
Here is a bit of history of the day from the History Channel
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.
The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there.
I highlighted the BHS marching band in last year's post, so here is a shout out to the Bearcat band.
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