Lower Burrell’s Memorial Day parade continues to grow

The Memorial Day parade in Lower Burrell keeps getting longer and bigger as the organizers, American Legion Post 868, tap the community for participants.

The American Legion will hold the parade on Memorial Day, Monday, along Leechburg Road from 11 a.m. to noon.

The road will be closed from Bethel Street to Wildlife Lodge Road from 10:45 a.m. until about noon.

“This year’s parade is a big one,” said Carla McMeans, parade coordinator and a member of the American Legion auxiliary.

Mayor John Andrejcik once referred to Lower Burrell as “parade city USA” because the city still held parades during the pandemic including a new one, the St Patrick’s Day parade, which was organized by residents and businesses.

The Memorial Day parade in Lower Burrell, which has been a tradition for at least 50 years, is the “grand affair of them all,” said Andrejcik, a veteran who served as a second-class yeoman in the Navy from 1976 to 1980.

“We’ve gotten plenty of compliments from invited officials in the past,” the mayor said. “The American Legion does a tremendous job year after year, and the good citizens of Lower Burrell come out in droves to the parade to start their summer.”

Hundreds of people line Leechburg Road to view the spectacle every Memorial Day, McMeans said.

McMeans, who has been organizing the parade for nearly a dozen years, starts work on the event in February. She credits volunteers from the Legion and the involvement of the mayor and others for growing the parade.

“There are a lot of people involved and with all that help and putting the word out there, people want to be a part of it,” she said.

In addition to the length of the parade, another indicator of its larger size is the expansion of the staging areas to ready the parade participants. Previously, the event was staged on the City Hall grounds. Now the staging area includes Stewart Elementary School and nearby parking lots, McMeans said.

The Legion welcomes anyone in the area to join in the parade, as long as the float, vehicle or marchers are appropriate for the community event.

This year, participants include 15 to 20 fire trucks, the Burrell Class of 2022 and Burrell High’s marching band, the Joseph “Bud” Myers Lower Burrell Farmers Market, state Rep. Bob Brooks’ office, local businesses and organizations, and a 53-foot float representing the Sons of the American Legion.

Local veterans will lead the parade that will finish at the American Legion, where officials will present a memorial and recognition service for veterans.

Afterward, the Legion will offer up a hot dog lunch and refreshments.

The parade starts at Schreiber Street and follows Leechburg Road to Wildlife Lodge Road in Lower Burrell. A memorial service will be held at the American Legion, 206 Wildlife Lodge Road.