Local veterans Ed Knight and Shirley Mozell are to be among the most prominent participants in this year’s Memorial Day parade, set for Saturday, May 27, at 10 a.m. through the heart of downtown.
The annual event, run by Aiken County Veterans Council, will have Knight as grand marshal and Mozell as first lady. Organizers are looking for more entrants and registration can be done via the council’s website.
Mozell, an Aiken resident since 2000, is familiar with the Aiken-Augusta area, having served from 1986 to 2006 at Fort Gordon. A Georgia native, she retired as a sergeant first class, and is an active member of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 43, Military Officers Association of America’s Aiken chapter and Aiken County Veterans Council, among other organizations, and volunteers at the Fisher House in Augusta on Freedom Way.
Knight, a Michigan native, is a Coast Guard Reserve retiree and also spent eight years in the Navy, entirely in submarine service. He has lived in Aiken since 1989 and retired as a first class petty officer. His current roles include active membership in American Legion Post 71, Aiken County Veterans Council and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 828, among other organizations. His wife, the late Sally Ellen Knight, also served in the Navy.
The staging site is Aiken Visitors Center and Train Museum, a few yards from Park Avenue, and the procession is to head along Park Avenue toward Laurens Street, turning right onto Laurens and ending at Barnwell Avenue, near First Presbyterian Church. The route covers slightly less than a mile.
Simultaneous with Aiken’s parade (10 a.m.) will be a Memorial Day gathering in Bath at the Horse Creek Midland Valley Veterans Park. The event is run by American Legion Post 153.
At least two Memorial Day gatherings are set for 11 a.m. May 29. The North Augusta event, a project of American Legion Post 71, is to be at Wade Hampton Park on Georgia Avenue, and the Aiken gathering is to be at Aiken County Veterans Park on Richland Avenue, with Aiken County Veterans Council as the host organization.
Location:
406 Park Avenue Southeast
Aiken , South Carolina 29801
Contact Information:
Aiken County Veterans Council
AikenMemorialDayParade@gmail.com(803) 642-1545