Sarasota prepares for annual Memorial Day parade, ceremony

Sarasota’s annual observance of Memorial Day will parade down Main Street on May 26, culminating at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park with a ceremony honoring the sacrifices made by servicemen and servicewomen. 

Sonny Bywaters, a U.S. Marine veteran and state vice commander of the American Legion, will serve as the ceremony’s keynote speaker. The parade will step off from Osprey Avenue at 10 a.m., with the ceremony expected to begin around 11 a.m.

Law enforcement agencies, first responders, veterans groups, community organizations, color guards, the Sarasota Military Academy Band, schools and local officials are expected to take part. No commercial vehicles will be permitted in the parade. 

Bywaters in 1980 helped form the parade’s organizing group, the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee. He joined the U.S. Marines in 1959 and served aboard the USS Boxer, an Essex-class aircraft carrier, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

He’s been a member of the American Legion since 1976 and has earned the distinction of a life membership.