Kennett Square Memorial Day Parade - 2023

http://historickennettsquare.com/recreation-culture/memorial-day-parade/

From the Event Organizer:

Our sincere THANKS for your participation in our upcoming Kennett Memorial Day Parade to be held on Monday, May 29, 2023 starting at 10:00 am.  With only a couple of weeks until this marvelous event, please allow us to share some preliminary logistical details about our Memorial Day Parade to assure your participation is successful.

ANNOUNCERS & PERFORMANCE AREAS

This year, in order to provide a broader parade attendee experience and to expand our parade attendees experience, we will actually be having TWO announcers at TWO different locations.  Our new announcer location will be in the 200 block of South Union Street (intersecting Magnolia Street). Our traditional announcer location will still be in the 100 block of East State Street (interesting with Union Street). Please download the Parade Map and view the many details about the parade route and other activities at https://www.kennettmemorialdayparade.com/map.  Below are the details of your participation that we have in our database. This info will be used as content for our onsite parade announcers. Please consider revising this info (if needed) to be both accurate, concise and/or detailed enough for the announcers allotted parade time for your entry, i.e., about 20-30 seconds. Email your amended info as soon as possible to KennettMemorialDayParade@gmail.com

Announcer Info We Have On File: 1st Delaware Regiment Living History group - Our Missions is to educate the public about Delawareans in the American Revolution via living history programs and portraying the following: 1st Delaware Regiment (aka Delaware Continentals or Delaware Blues), Delaware Militia, Allen McLane’s partisan group (also was attached to the 1st Delaware Regiment), Civilian supporters of the 1st Delaware Regiment and the Cause of Liberty plus naval aspects of the 1st Delaware Regiment and the history of the Delaware River and Bay and vicinity during the American Revolution.

PARADE Lineup begins at 8:30 am, May 29

There are three staging areas to prepare the parade lineup. These are designated as areas “A”, “B”, and “C”. Please review these locations on the Parade Map.  Pre-parade parking and traveling through Kennett Square can be “challenging” due to many barricades being setup starting at 9:00 am. Please don’t wait until the parade start time approaches to arrive.  The Parade Map shows detailed recommended “lineup entrance routes” to approach the lineup areas coming from the west side and east side of Kennett Square. In advance of your arrival, please review these entrance routes carefully on the map and adhere to the paths shown in blue on the map for ease of entry.  Please only enter the Parking Areas per the directions as shown on the map.  There is no room to reverse or turn round once you are within the parking areas if you enter via a different direction.  Next week you will receive an email that designates your Parking Area (e.g., “A”, “B” of “C”) and Sequence Number (e.g., 1,2,3,4,5, etc.). The lower your sequence number, the closer you will be to the Parking Area’s exit to begin traveling in the parade with your vehicle/group.

PERFORMANCES - KEEP SHORT Please

We are truly looking forward to over 100 entries in this year’s parade. Because of the overall parade length, please limit any group performances to about 1 minute and be sure to keep up with the parade entry in front of you.  Last year, we had a few exceptionally long performances by a few dance troupes and acrobats. The resulting gap in the parade caused many people, especially at the end of the parade route, to think the parade had concluded and therefore they started to depart early.  If you find your group is falling behind the group in front of you, please pick up the pace or shorten the performance to catch up. Thank you for your compliance on this issue.

NO ATTENDEE GIFTS FROM PARADE PARTICIPANTS

For safety reasons, please do NOT throw gifts, including candy or other treats, from your vehicles. Children will often run into the street to pick up these gifts potentially causing injury.  If you do want to handout gifts (i.e., the Boy Scouts will be handing out US flags), please have your fellow parade participants available to actually hand these gifts to attendees.

THANKS SO MUCH !!!

Our sincere THANKS so much for your participation that allows us to honor our U.S. military personnel who died while serving with devotion, loyalty and commitment in the United States Armed Forces to keep the freedom we all enjoy together !!!

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1st Delaware Regiment Specific:

Notes: This is parade only event.  However there is a free lunch for all parade participants afterward in the middle of town at the American Legion center.  Great parade!

Length of Event: Parade Only

Arrival Time For Regiment: 9am

Parking: Please park at designated location for parade.  There is a shuttle that brings you back to start of parade.  

Restrooms: Portapotties at start of parade and end of parade

Food and Beverages Provided: No – water bottles provided by event organizers.  There is a free lunch for all parade participants afterward in the middle of town at the American Legion center.

Encampment Setup Level: None

Soldier Specific:

Impression: Delaware Continental uniform preferred with nutmeg or buff color breeches.  Otherwise, militia.

Kit Level: Full kit

Musket Firing: No

Musician Specific:

Contact Musician Sergeant-Major for music to be played at this event.  Military calls also to be demonstrated too if possible.

Civilian Specific:

Impression: Civilian followers of a military camp.

Table Displays Permitted: No – this is parade only.

Supporter Specific:

Please bring camera or video camera to take photographs or video if possible.  We will look to take posed photos that will be used to help educate the public if possible at each event this year.

Registered as Attending:

1. Chris Mlynarczyk - Military - Soldier
2. Tom DeMott - Military - Soldier
3. Milt Sherman - Military - Soldier
4. Wilma Upton - Civilian
5. Margot Osmianski - Civilian