Community Corner
Verona-Oakmont Parade Will Honor the Fallen
The parade begins at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, with a cemetery service scheduled for 11 a.m.
With Memorial Day just around the corner, residents of Verona and Oakmont might want to think about dusting off their lawn chairs for the annual parade and service on Monday.
Virginia Hill, chairwoman of the Oakmont-Verona Memorial Day Committee, said the day will feature traditional favorites such as fire trucks, the high school marching band, and speakers. But a few things will make this year different from last.
The parade will include members of Rolling Thunder, a motorcycle club that seeks to bring full accountability for prisoners of war and those missing in action. Also, the Oakmont Veteran Memorial, at which the parade makes a stop, has been updated to include the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. on Allegheny River Boulevard at East Railroad Street in Verona and proceeds through Oakmont, making stops at memorials in both boroughs. Jeannie Sweeney Ambrose will be the grand marshal, and the parade marshal is Patch Macioce.
A service will be held at the Oakmont Verona Cemetary at 11 a.m. A recently-returned veteran of the war in Afghanistan, 1st Sgt. Michael Maggio, will deliver a speech during the service.
The parade and service are a long-standing fixture in the communities, Hill said, and this year’s events continue that local tradition.
“It’s just a really nice, old-fashioned, small-town parade and service,” Hill said. “It’s a wonderful thing. It’s been going on for over 100 years.”
Anyone interested in donating to the Memorial Day Commitee can call Richard Luciana at 412-828-8147.
