Author	Message
publius	Posted: Sun, Jun 22 2008, 11:04 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury back to cranbury Don't be such an old fart. Parades need MORE girls. No wonder only people over 65 find them fun anymore. Is that all the excitement you can conjure up at your age? "WHOOPEE, here comes another firetruck"!!!!!!!!!!!
publius	Posted: Sun, Jun 22 2008, 11:01 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury [quote="back to cranbury"]Even if not uniformed, it would still be great to see them marching. I am sure we have a couple of WW2, Korea, Viet Nam, Gulf War or vetarans that were not active at war time. It would be great if people who know these individuals in town can encourage them to walk next year. Also, what happened to the old bicycle part of the parade where kids rode decorated bikes? Has that been gone long.
parade	Posted: Wed, Jun 4 2008, 12:59 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury You are making a lot of assumptions. I am not talking about length of teh parade, but whether for a town our size whether the National Guard would provide an honor guard given the number of towns in the state who also hold parades. Would they see Cranbury as being big enough for them. I actually did speak with one veteran this morning and asked why he didn't walk and he said they've asked, but that he's busy with other things now. Why don't you call the Lions club up and volunteer to walk? Perhaps even use your connections to get an honor guard? The Lions club I am sure would appreciate the help.
Young Veteran	Posted: Wed, Jun 4 2008, 12:22 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury parade wrote: Cranbury is very willing to have a military presence. We had two WW2 veterans riding. I wonder if our town is big enough for the National Guard to put people in the parade. Our town is plenty big enough. If you remove one or two fire trucks, that is plenty of room for a group of veterans to march/ride or to input a current National Guard or Reserve element. Also, what about a presentable, parade leading Honor Guard. Again just disappointing that the parade's clear focus is not on honoring veteran or military personnel's sacrifice.
parade	Posted: Tue, Jun 3 2008, 7:35 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Cranbury is very willing to have a military presence. We had two WW2 veterans riding. I wonder if our town is big enough for the National Guard to put people in the parade.
traveler	Posted: Tue, Jun 3 2008, 5:18 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Young Veteran wrote: The question, is the Township of Cranbury WILLING to have such a Military Presence??? If they're not interested...SHAME on them!
parade	Posted: Tue, Jun 3 2008, 10:12 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Young veteran, I agree. The Parade is sponsored by the Lions club a volunteer organization and from what I understand those veterans in the past who marched were local residents who had served. I do wonder if it is not through a lack of trying, but through a lack of interest on the veterans part to march. I would encourage you to contact the Lions club and volunteer to march next year. The parade would be great if we could get more veterans and active service personell to volunteer to march.
Young Veteran	Posted: Tue, Jun 3 2008, 9:05 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury As a young Army Veteran I am very annoyed and disappointed by the lack of Uniformed Military Personnel in the Cranbury Parade. Although all the rest of the Parade is great, Memorial Day is not about those participants. The holiday is about remembrance and appreciation of those in the Military and the sacrifice that they have made, are making, and will always make for the greater good! Besides the lack of a Military presence, how about a presentable Honor Guard. For those of you who don't know, the Honor Guard are those personnel who carry and guard the U.S. flag in ceremonies such as this parade. This year's Honor Guard didn't even lead the Parade route. I understand Cranbury is a historical society but a more updated, professional looking, and parade leading Honor Guard is not much to ask for! A simple solution to the lack of Military presence and a more respectable Honor Guard is to request the assistance of a local National Guard or Reserve Unit. Again, as a young Army Veteran of both active and reserve service, I have participated in numerous Memorial Day Parades. All it takes is someone to coordinate with a local National Guard or Reserve Unit. The question, is the Township of Cranbury WILLING to have such a Military Presence???
Guest	Posted: Fri, May 30 2008, 6:10 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Doesn't the cranbury school downtown have a band? Too bad they couldn't march in the parade. It would have been nice for the school to take part. As a kid living on Long Island NY, my elementary school and Junior High School had the regular band march in our local town parades. Kudos to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts - even the scouts had a little band play at the memorial services.
Guest	Posted: Fri, May 30 2008, 5:14 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury I assume perhaps the problem is there is no Cranbury Marching Band because the kids are part of the Princeton one. Has anyone tried to work with Princeton to have them all do the Cranbury parade? I would think if you are a competitive marching band you would look for any good excuse for a march you can find.
back to cranbury	Posted: Fri, May 30 2008, 1:03 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Years ago when I was living here in my first stint the Cranbury school band marched.
Traveler	Posted: Fri, May 30 2008, 11:57 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Another nice addition to any Memorial Day parade is a local high school marching band. With all the high schools in the surrounding area it's amazing we can't get one to participate. Perhaps next year?
back to cranbury	Posted: Fri, May 30 2008, 8:20 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Even if not uniformed, it would still be great to see them marching. I am sure we have a couple of WW2, Korea, Viet Nam, Gulf War or vetarans that were not active at war time. It would be great if people who know these individuals in town can encourage them to walk next year. Also, what happened to the old bicycle part of the parade where kids rode decorated bikes? Has that been gone long. To Publius, your comments are wrong. The parade may have the same themes, but our parade is never boring. Just look at the complaints registered in towns in our area that do not have parades. I really hope your comments on the ladies was in jest, because that is actually what is wrong about parades and public gatherings today.
Guest	Posted: Fri, May 30 2008, 6:33 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury Guest wrote: There were a few veterans, I think from WW2, that were riding in cars. I gather we are referring to uniformed veterans. I recall one parade when there was a single formation of vets carrying the colors. Each vet represented a branch of service and were in uniform. That one single image is always so striking and deeply patriotic.
Guest	Posted: Thu, May 29 2008, 8:38 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury There were a few veterans, I think from WW2, that were riding in cars.
Traveler	Posted: Thu, May 29 2008, 8:13 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: Great Memorial Day in Cranbury James wrote: I was curious as I had to step into my backyard at one point. Did we have any veterans marching this year? It's been a couple of years since I saw the parade and this year I did not see any veterans marching. I am not sure if I missed them or they did not walk. I hope I just missed them as our town has more than a few veterans and I always enjoyed seeing them walk. You didn't miss any marching veterans since there were none to be seen. A memorial day parade sans a veterans presence is a sad commentary. If I could only fit into my Air Force blues I would have been proud to march down Main. Perhaps next year some of our "younger" vets can be encouraged to don their uniforms and join in the parade. We must never lose sight of the true meaning of memorial day...those that fought and died for our country. Their ultimate sacrifice affords us the freedom to have such parades. To all our brave soldiers of wars past and to those presently serving in the military throughout the world...I salute you!