American Legion Post 7 officials are preparing to put on the annual Gainesville Memorial Day parade next week.
Post 7 Commander Andre Castleberry spoke on WDUN's "Mornings on Maine Street" Wednesday, saying more than 60 organizations have signed up to participate in this year's event.
"We're excited! This is our second year back after the pandemic and hopefully it will get bigger and better for us this year," Castleberry said. "As I learned last year, on parade day we'll usually have 10 or 15 more people show up and I'll find a place to put them in there. The more the better."
Castleberry said Rock Creek Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of American and Korean War Veterans are among the veterans' groups participating in the parade. He also said the Gainesville High School band will march in the parade and this year's event will have a special guest.
"Channing Moss, one of our local army veterans that got hit with an RPG is going to be our grand marshal this year, so I'm really excited about that," Castleberry said.
Moss is a 2001 graduate of West Hall High School who suffered his injury while serving in Afghanistan in 2006.
Castleberry said anyone interested in registering to be in the parade can do so on the post's website. He said he hopes to see as many people as possible join the event.
"We want to honor our veterans. Pretty much everyone around here has a veteran in their family or a friend or a neighbor or someone that they know of," Castleberry said.
The parade will start at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church and will go south on Green Street, continue on E.E. Butler Parkway and end at the Bank of America parking lot on Spring Street.
He said E.E. Butler Parkway will be closed from Jesse Jewel Parkway to Green Street starting at 7:45 a.m. on Memorial Day morning until the parade is finished. At 8:00, Green Street will be entirely shut down with Thompson Bridge Road also shut down from Green Street to Enota Avenue.
