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By MELISSA DONOVAN; Times Leader Staff Writer
Monday, November 11, 1996 Page: 3A
WILKES-BARRE — It might have been the chilly weather that brought Santa
Claus to town early. Santa, apparently a member of the Catholic War Veterans
of Edwardsville, drove a red Jeep in Sunday’s Veterans Day Parade, past a
modest crowd that braved 37 degree weather.
The turnout was “lighter than usual,” said Sgt. Paul Middleton of the
Wilkes-Barre Police Department.
The cold weather didn’t deter Colleen and Herb Newhart of Plains Township
who donned parkas and set up camp on Public Square with chairs, blankets and
pretzels. They come every year to watch their son march with Boy Scout Troop
100 of Plains Township. Ryan Newhart, 11, carried a flag during this year’s
parade, his fifth appearance.
“It’s something I think they should do,” his mother said. “You have to
teach them what Veterans Day is all about.”
Some of the Scouts offered ragged salutes to the officers in the reviewing
stand on Public Square and received smiles and crisper salutes in return.
The Scouts were among more than 1,000 marchers, said one of the organizers,
Maj. Gail W. Vonderheid of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 109th Field
Artillery. Participants included local National Guard and reserve units,
veterans’ groups, Irem Temple Shriners, marching bands and community groups.
They stepped off from Market Street, Kingston, and ended at North Main and
Union streets, Wilkes-Barre.
The Shamrock and Thistle Pipe Band, with its kilts and bagpipes, was one of
the first units in the parade. It included some small boys with drums, who
prompted applause and smiles from Tilly Gagliardi of Wilkes-Barre. “Aren’t
they cute?” she said. “I bet their knees are cold.”
The music was one of the main attractions for Gagliardi, her son, Michael,
10, her daughter, Theresa, 5, and her mother-in-law, Rosemary Gagliardi.
Rosemary Gagliardi, who called herself a “professional grandmother,” said
the parade is a lesson in patriotism. “If we don’t show our young ones,
they’ll never come,” she said.
The children were impressed by the clowns from the Irem Temple and the
Silly String they purchased from a vendor.
Irem Temple sent several units, including the Oriental Band — whose
members wore golden slippers and were led by a man brandishing a dagger and
wearing a gold turban — and the Chanters, who used megaphones to broadcast
their rendition of “God Bless America.”
On a more serious note, spectators had hearty applause for a Veterans of
the Vietnam War chapter from Pittston which dressed in black and wore jackets
with a logo honoring those missing in action. A veteran in the group carried
an American flag while being pushed in a wheelchair.
Other units included the Italian-American Veterans of Luzerne County, led
by a cream-colored antique Cadillac decorated with American and Italian flags,
and the Kingston Huskies, a youth football team that filled several vehicles
and held two trophies aloft when they reached the reviewing stand. The players
were followed by their cheerleaders, who did the Macarena.
This year’s theme was “Honoring the Employers who Support the Guard and
Reserve,” Vonderheid said. The parade is a joint project of more than a dozen
organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the
National Guard.
TIMES LEADER PHOTOS/BRIAN K. DIGGS
Krista Holloway, 3, waves at marchers in Sunday’s Veterans Day parade. With
her are Domanique Middlebrook, 6 months, and Tina Rinke.
Members of the Irem Temple Legion of Honor march up South Main Street
during the parade.