Parade planned for Veterans Day

Manatee County will commemorate Veterans Day with a special parade and ceremony Nov. 11.

A parade will start at 9:30 a.m. at Rossi Park, located between Ninth and 10th Street West in Bradenton, near the Municipal Marina. The parade will travel east down Third Avenue, then north on Riverfront Drive before ending at the Veterans Monument Park behind Manatee Memorial Hospital.

A Veterans Day ceremony will follow at 11 a.m. and will include a massing of colors by the Manatee County veterans and auxiliary groups, the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem. The Manatee County Veteran of the Year and Auxiliary Member of the Year will be announced at that time.

Congressman Vern Buchanan will be the guest speaker for the event.

“I believe that as a country we owe veterans a lot of gratitude,” Manatee County Veterans Council Chairman Ken McCoy said. “They sacrificed to give us the freedoms we take for granted.”

The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners has approved a Veterans Day proclamation asking citizens, businesses and other individuals to pay tribute to veterans during a weeklong celebration of American patriotism from Nov. 9-14.

More than 42,000 veterans reside in Manatee County.