Two Lane Adventure on Memorial Day – Monday, May 27th 2019

We found a beautiful Field of Heroes on the way into Avoca to attend the parade. What is a Field of Heroes? It is a display of American flags placed in rows in a green field. This one has the backdrop of a beautiful pond and small cabin.

We went into the village of Avoca and parked at Donna’s cousin’s house along the parade route. Before the parade started, we were lucky enough to have a fly over of planes. I can’t describe the planes, but they were all older. They made two passes over us, but I was lucky to capture one shot.

The Avoca Memorial Day Parade was surprisingly big. It began with the American Legion Color Guard.

A decorated hay wagon pulled some of the older Veteran’s from the American Legion.

The local drumline walked and drummed as they went by.

The Avoca Fire Department 1927 Sanford Pumper was next. The Sanford Motor Truck Company of Syracuse, NY, manufactured commercial chassis of various sizes for general use.  Dump trucks, freight vans, snowplows and the occasional fire truck were all likely to be found on Sanford chassis' in the Northeastern US. The Sanford Company wanted this one to be "special" so it was leafed with silver instead of gold, and the outlines were in green instead of black, as was common then.  They also chose to use a fine white pinstripe with much flagging as accent.  This white piping and flagging was to become a Sanford tradition and was to endure until the company went out of business in 1990.

The Kanestio Valley Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution float was next. This was organized on 11 December 1897, which was one hundred and fourteen years after the end of the Revolutionary War. It was a group of 20 ladies from the Hornell/Canisteo area that formed the Kanestio Valley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  This was just 7 years after the national organization was formed in Washington, DC. The Town of Canisteo Historian and DAR member, Leora Wilson Drake, wrote in a 1975/76 brochure, "We are indebted to the Senecas, of the Iroquois Confederacy, for the name of our town - Kanestio or Canisteo, as it is now used - Te-car-nase-teo, meaning literally 'board on the water,' but more generally construed to mean 'head of navigation'." So what better name for the DAR chapter located in this region. 

We got our first glimpse of our lunch … well at least the Chicken that escaped before the BBQ!

The Avoca T-ball, soft ball and baseball teams rode a float in the parade.

I don’t know where these little guys were from … but they were so darn cute with their patriotic costumes.

There was a large contingent of side-by-sides and go-karts. They reminded me of the Shriner Funny Mini Cars we saw at the St Partick’s Day Parade in Savannah.

And one motocross bike!

It’s not a parade without a few horses!

Clover Knoll Farms provided us the beautiful horses! Naturally, they were at the end of the parade.

After the parade, we stopped at the Avoca United Methodist Church Chicken BBQ. It is a good old fashion New York style BBQ, with white or clear sauce. Ohhhhhh, so good! We got to see our friends, Bill & Sharron Herd.

Later in the day, we took a drive the Bath National Cemetery. This is where Charlie’s Dad and Mom were laid to rest. It is a beautiful National Cemetery built into the natural rolling hills of the area.

I want to share what Memorial Day means to me. Memorial Day is an American holiday on the last Monday of May that honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. This is the official definition of Memorial Day, however, I believe Memorial Day is a day that we all mourn. We mourn for them all, but we really mourn those who we knew. We mourn for those that never got to meet their children, never got to see a prom, or walk a daughter down the aisle. We mourn the mother's that never got to be a grandmother, or a father that never held his grandchild. We mourn the brothers who never knew they were a big brother or the little sisters that never came home. 

Think about this ... Less than one percent of the general population step forward, raise their hands and promise to serve without asking for anything in return. Those men and women have sacrificed time with their families so that the other 99 percent can live free. We have waved goodbye, sometimes multiple times without knowing whether or not we would ever come home. We have missed their kids’ milestones, holidays, birthdays and anniversaries and most of us would do it all over again, to protect the country we love. The reality of this all volunteer force is, less than one percent of those that volunteer for military service lose their lives and never return, or return home in a flag covered coffin.

Today's blog is dedicated to Lt Louis Allen and Capt Phillip Esposito, two of the many soldiers the 42nd ID lost during Operation Iraqi Freedom. RIP my friends. Memorial Day is a day for admiration towards those that made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.