Amador County – Several hundred people of all ages lined both sides downtown Main Street in Jackson Thursday to help salute the U.S. military on Veterans Day.
About 30 parade floats rode down sunny Main Street in the second annual American Legion Post 108 Veterans Day Parade, under Grand Marshal Tony Mathos, whose wife and assistant in running the parade also walked down the parade route thanking attendees for coming to the mid-morning event.
School children filled the parking lot of the Jackson Firehouse at the corner of Main and California Streets, where they watched the parade start.
Before the parade, Poncho Villa, president of the American Legion Riders Chapter 108, said he was happy to hear and thankful that TSPN would be “taking the time to cover and report on such a special day to honor our veterans.” Villa said: “It makes me feel that my time serving in the Vietnam War will not be forgotten.”
Several local media outlets covered the parade, including TSPN’s co-founder Tom Slivick, who is also a veteran.
Mathos is Past President of the Riders, and is also a member of the Sons of the American Legion, who were some of the parade marchers and riders.
Mathos said the parade was the second annual Veterans Day Parade, with a kind of a footnote. It was the second in a row after about a 24-year hiatus of the parade here in Amador County.
This is his second year as grand marshal of the parade, after helping get it back in action last year with help from American Legion Post 108, main sponsor, whose membership totals about 1,800, including Legionnaires, the Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion, and the American Legion Riders.
Mathos said they had double the floats and groups over last year’s parade.
Leading the parade was the American Legion Honor Guard, followed by the Legion float, which had high-ranking officials on board, and veterans from World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm wars.
Also participating were American Legion Ambulances, and fire engines from every brigade in the county.
Parade entrants included the Jackson and Ione police departments, California Highway Patrol, Jackson Fire, Cal Fire, and the Lockwood and Amador fire protection districts.
Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts also marched, as did the Civil Air Patrol, and several car club members, driving old military vehicles. There was an antique fire truck carrying Jackson Mayor Connie Gonsalves and Councilman Keith Sweet; and Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison drove his old squad car in the parade.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
