SALINAS VALLEY — Veterans Day in the era of Covid-19 will go on this year without many of the local parades and gatherings.
Two events, however, will take place in the Salinas Valley, with one being in-person and the other virtual. A third event in King City was postponed due to state guidelines restricting the planned Avenue of Honor dedication ceremony at San Lorenzo Park.
The City of Soledad and American Legion Post 32 will honor Soledad’s veterans and active duty personnel at the Visitor’s Center on Front Street at 2 p.m. on Nov. 11. The event will be an official military ceremony with an opening prayer, posting of colors by Soledad NJROTC Color Guard and performance of the national anthem by Cadet Master Chief Nadia Manzano.
The Soledad ceremony will serve as an unveiling of the new military banners adorning Front Street honoring soldiers. The banners are double-sided with a photo of the honorees and their branch of service. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the banners as they walk along Front Street after the ceremony.
The 10th annual Monterey County Veterans Day Parade, which takes place in Salinas, will be held virtually this year at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11. Guests are invited to watch from the comfort of their own home as the parade streams online through its YouTube and Facebook pages as well as its website.
“Though it will be a different type of celebration, the tradition of commemorating the service and the sacrifice of the men and women who have served our country in uniform will continue this year and many more,” said Tony Virrueta, parade committee chairman.
The parade committee compiled footage from past parades and will play that along with live interviews and videos submitted by community businesses and organizations as an overall stream to celebrate, in addition to live commentary. The virtual event is planned as an hour of festivities.
“We have worked way too hard all these years not to do anything to honor our vets,” said Phil Orozco, parade committee co-chairman.
The parade website is salinasveteransparade.org, and its Facebook page is Facebook.com/SalinasVeteransDayParade.
The Avenue of Honor at San Lorenzo Park in King City is a project by King City Young Farmers, who had planned a Veterans Day dedication ceremony after relocating and updating the plaques and monuments. The original Avenue was dedicated in 2011 along the park entryway, but those plaques deteriorated over time and the overall memorial went largely unnoticed.
Avenue of Honor construction was planned to be finished or near finished by Veterans Day with a coinciding rededication that day, but the event had to be postponed until next year due to state and county restrictions.
San Lorenzo Park is closed for camping and day use, but people can still walk through and view the Avenue near the front parking lot.
