Local and regional dignitaries gather on Put-in-Bay to join approximately 1,200 scouts as they parade through the streets of downtown Put-in-Bay Ohio. Joining them are antique and classic cars as well as regional high school marching bands, providing some great marching band music, The captain of the USS Lake Erie, area veterans and 1812 re-enactors wrap up the annual Grand Parade at noon.
Get your spot early downtown, as the streets fill with observers, parents, and visitors. The front patio of Mr. Ed’s Bar & Grille is a favored spot to watch everyone go by. The parade usually starts at the Put-in-Bay school where the marching bands prepare, and they follow a route around the DeRivera Park and return to the school.
Many parents will book a room at the Commodore Resort or Victory Station Hotel to be able to watch from their balconies or streetfront as their young marchers go by in the Historical Grand Parade.
A Brief History of Grand Parades
By definition, a parade is a public march or procession honoring a particular occasion. In this case, it is celebrating the history of the Lake Erie Islands and local naval battles. Parades take on different meanings depending on the mood and the reason for the particular parade. In some locales, a parade may become an important part of a holiday tradition like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In other places, a parade may mark a special event like the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Other parades may also be used so everyone can see some special person like a presidential inauguration parade.
Although the origins of parades are unknown, there is evidence of parades in cave paintings in Spain dating back roughly ten thousand years ago. From these paintings, experts speculate that the earliest grand parades consisted of prehistoric men who were carrying back to camp their game and fish that they had killed during the hunt. Since that time so many years ago, many people throughout civilized history have participated in parades.
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