Having a three-day weekend is
always a pleasure – especially when the weather warms up. Plenty of holidays
fall on a Monday – and not too many people truly observe the honors or
celebrations that they get off from work and school. Canarsie, as a community,
observes Memorial Day by hosting a parade every year. Whenever the Canarsie Courier has a photographer
cover the parade, it seems like fewer people participate each year. Sure, there
are still local organizations and youths who lead the parade – but where are
the hundreds of residents who are thankful for those who died for our freedom?
Do the scant amount of people
who join the parade even know what
and who it’s really for?
I recently spoke to Canarsie
Lion Josephine Bolus who’s been involved in the parade since 2000. She noted
that the lack of surviving war veterans still living in Canarsie is one of many
reasons for our skeletal parades. Lack of understanding what Memorial Day truly
commemorates is an even bigger obstacle.
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| Memorial Day Parade in Canarsie -circa 1980. |
Josephine told me that most
residents, when they see the parade coming through, just hear the noise and see
the small crowd making its way along local streets. There are no thoughts about
what our war heroes experienced while serving our country.
“A lot of people don’t know
what it’s like to be drafted and to be told ‘you’re going to war,’” she said. “Many
who served came home with missing limbs and had to be treated at V.A. hospitals.”
Do our children see the
parade from this angle? How about residents who simply take free American flags
– just because they’re handed out – and DON’T hang them outside their homes to
show how grateful they are for our heroes?
It’s fair to say that back in
the 1970s and 1980s – even into the early 1990s – Canarsie had a lot more
residents who were patriotic – and more children took part in the parade
because their parents had patriotic values too! No matter what country you’re
from – you’re living in America and there’s a reason you’re here! Aren’t you
grateful to be able to live in a country where citizens have sacrificed their
lives so YOU can live in freedom in the United States?
In decades-old issues of the Canarsie Courier, we ran full pages with
photos showing residents lined up along their blocks outside of their home,
waiting for the parade and cheering on – proudly waving flags. They joined
civic leaders for honorary salutes at our local cemetery and at the Veterans’
Circle located right at the foot of the Belt Parkway.
Is it fair to assume that a
lot of those residents lost a family member to war and honoring their heroes
helps them feel more connected to their loved ones?
Let’s get real! Big events
led by war veterans and honorable residents are dwindling down. Canarsie used to have organizations like the
Joint Council of Senior Citizens Club and the American Legion Post 573 Ladies
Auxiliary. Civic organizations – with plenty of members to fill our streets –
were in full force with regular meetings. Invitations to join their board were even
published in our newspaper every week.
Instead of our parade
attracting more residents as it travels through our streets, you might,
instead, see confused spectators standing with their arms folded as if to say,
“What the hell is going on here?”
Sadly, that’s what parade organizers are asking as volunteers and participants try
to recruit more people who are truly grateful for their freedom…
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