COLORADO SPRINGS — In a turn of events, the Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade is back on.
In early October, the original organizers of the parade said the event was canceled citing a lack of participation.
Covering Colorado
Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade has been canceled
On Tuesday, the City of Colorado Springs held a press conference where Mayor Yemi Mobolade announced that while the news that the parade was canceled, the community outcry and support following the announcement was overwhelming.
Aware that the annual Veterans Day parade would not take place this year of course as you can imagine the news was crushing to so many people community including me as a proud military city and home to approximately 90,000 veterans and a family not having a parade was not an option and well, this news came as a shock to the community. That’s the bad news.
Here’s the good news. It has helped galvanize our community into action as present and as evident as it can be seen today, I immediately started hearing from residence and local leaders from across the city, and several partners stepped up, including our media partners to share ideas and how they can save the parade, more importantly, to say how can we help Veteran support is truly inspiring, and serves as a testament to our communities, big heart and our shared respect for our veterans and just like any kind of disaster when it strikes our community you often find out what brings out the best of the people in Colorado Springs as we find a new sense of place through working together and this is what we are witnessing and this is why we’ve also earned the reputation of being the seventh most caring city in the country.
Now in Colorado Springs, parades are not organized by the city government rather parades are organized by dedicated local individuals and groups who care deeply about our community and celebrating these special milestones throughout the year and in this case our veterans. Self-sacrifice and service of our veterans through a parade is for several reasons one way we are paying tribute to the women and men who have served our military, so we educate the public to learn more about the different military branches.
We are fostering and new sense of unity and respect for we are raising awareness of the issues that mean a lot to veterans and the Veterans Day parade serves as a symbol of our national pride. That is why I’m excited to announce today that Jon Odonnell is leading the effort to the Veterans Day parade downtown on Saturday, November 9. Yes, you heard it correctly. There will be a Veterans Day parade on Saturday.
As noted by the mayor, the City of Colorado Springs does not organize parades that happen in the city and it is an effort of local individuals and community members that make some of the largest parades in the city possible.
The mayor's office, the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, and military groups and leaders convened to best figure out a solution following the announcement from previous organizers.
Jon O'Donnell, the man known for bringing back events like Territory Days and being instrumental in parades like the Colorado Springs St. Patrick's Day Parade stepped up to volunteer and spearhead the community effort.
O'Donnell will be leading the community effort, but he needs your help and is asking for the community to show out in support of veterans in our military community.
In an interview with News5's Dianne Derby, O'Donnell said following his decision to take on the challenge of throwing the parade, "Pretty much so emotionally we're connected to it. It goes back over 30 years so and all the things that we have done over the years, from the Pearl Harbor observance to the Veterans Day Parade to the Inner Honor Air Show, which is now... the Pikes Peak Air Show, all those things that we've done over the years, no,... we've walked that road many times before, and even though this is short notice and brought on by catharsis, we're okay. We're all excited. We've hardly slept in three days. We're just all cranked up. So, I think this will work out really well."
The parade will be held along North Tejon Street from East St. Vrain Street to East Vermijo Avenue on Saturday, November 9 at 11:00 a.m.
For more information about the parade or to participate, click here.
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In November, Colorado voters will decide whether to give $350 million in state funding to local law enforcement agencies across the state and a one-time $1 million payment to families of first responders killed in the line of duty.
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