Veterans Day will see parade after all

Erin Neff

Friday, Nov. 3, 2000 | 10:37 a.m.

How to help

The Las Vegas 2000 Veterans Day Parade Committee is accepting donations to help put together this year's event. Donations can be made to Nevada State Bank Account # 0002098853.

Anyone or any group interested in participating in the parade should call 384-3403.

In recent years the annual Veterans Day parade has had more participants than onlookers cheering their service.

So this year when one of the parade organizers fell ill, the parade honoring the area's 200,000 veterans was scrapped.

But thanks to the efforts of Harold "JR" Sherrod Jr. and with a little prodding from Mayor Oscar Goodman, veterans have pulled together to quickly plan what may be the biggest and best parade in years.

"What we're going to have this year is a parade you can be proud of," said Sherrod, commander of the Fred S. Pennington VFW Post 1753.

After hearing about the canceled parade from Sherrod during the Oct. 18 City Council meeting, Goodman promised the Persian Gulf War vet he would cancel a planned three-day vacation with his wife to participate in a parade, if it could be organized in quick fashion.

Sherrod picked up the phone, enlisting fellow veterans Stephen Gibbs and Jim Perrault and a dozen others to make it happen. Two weeks later he was ready to call Goodman on his promise.

"My wife can make me sleep outside," Goodman said Thursday, agreeing to serve as grand marshal.

The parade will begin at 9 a.m. Nov. 11, on Fourth Street at Gass Avenue and will travel to the Fremont Street Experience.

Every local high school's Junior ROTC detachment will march. In addition, the parade will feature at least six high school bands, horse and rider units, two Scottish bagpipe units, more than a dozen military vehicles, canine units and motorcycle units.

But since the parade has literally been thrown together at the last minute, organizers are looking for donations to help pay for expenses and to provide transportation for veterans to attend the day's events.