Parades are held in Amherst three times a year.
These are for Memorial Day, Independance Day and Veteran's Day. The Independance Day
parade is the biggest I've ever seen in a town of less than a couple of million population
with bands, fire companies, politicians, scout troups, circus acts, dog breeders, real
estate agents (etc...) from miles around. The other two parades are usually quite a
bit more reserved and local. The local school bands and scout troups play a major
part.
The Memorial Day Parade for 1999 was no exception.
We only had one U.S. Presidential candidate this time.
This page is devoted to showing Amherst's downtown during the parade.
I could have photographed every car, marching group, etc.. in the parade. Had
I done that this page would have been it's own event, rather than a part of the Amherst
Photo Essay. |
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This is Amherst's Green. There are groups of
people dressed up for the parade as well as many town residents meeting and
sociallising. Many residents are gathered along the parade route. |
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Waiting for the parade to start. |
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Before the 21-gun salute the flag at the monument was
at half mast. |
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The parade led off with our Veterans. They led
the parade around the center of town, then over to a cemetary, and finally to the Civil
War Monument. 21-gun salutes were held several times along the route ending at the
monument.. |
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Early in the parade many town and state electees,
volunteers, and other notables were marching. Those that I recognised were:
Bill Belvin (state rep), Dave Taylor (Amherst Congregational Church Minister), Robert Rowe
(state rep), Louise Marley (ww2 vet), , Marylin Peterman (selectman), Cynthia Dokmo (NH
state senate) |
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and.. John McCain, Republican for president. |
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The Middle School Band was played "God Bless
America." |
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The group paused while further up front a cerimony was
taking place. |
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The High School band looked and sounded very sharp (er.
good). |
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The Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts were well represented. |
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After the parade left the down town area on it's
circuit of town monuments, the gathered residents met to catch up on the latest town
gossip. |
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I took the opportunity to photograph "The
Villiage" with the unusual parking situation. Actually this particular
lane looks like this when church is in session. |
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This tree just begged to be photographed. |
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Tom McCain did a presentation at the
monument after Dave Taylor led the prayer. |
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After the parade the green is much more crowded. |
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This is the Congregational Church and Civil War
monument. |
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The Church Steeple (actually owned by the town of
Amherst) looked very pretty. |
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A couple of the middle school girls relaxed on the
green after the parade. |
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Schools
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