Crowd honors patriots
The Memorial Day Parade in Butler on Monday offered a generous share of classic parade offerings, including fire trucks, a performance by the Butler High School marching band and candy-tossing dignitaries.
But Edgar Mariacher, 85, of Center Township said he attended the parade in hopes of getting a glimpse of something else: Some of his buddies.
Mariacher, 85, is a Navy veteran of World War II, where he served on a tug boat in the South Atlantic and for three invasions.
Standing along Main Street, watching Bantam cars and bagpipers pass, Mariacher said he hoped to encounter friends he knew either from the Navy or just as fellow World War II veterans.
That chance to chat, his son said, gets slimmer and slimmer with each passing year."There cannot be that many World War II veterans left in Butler County, let alone the state," said Mariacher's son, William Smith, 45, of Butler. "Yesterday, when we were talking about coming here, he shook his head and said, 'We are a dying breed.'"Smith, who served in the Marines during Desert Storm, said, "This year the parade is just special to us ... I don't know why, but I just have a newfound respect for those people I served with and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice."That air of patriotism, coupled with a sunny morning, drew a healthy crowd to the parade route, which began in front of the Butler County Courthouse and ended in a tribute ceremony in North Cemetery."This is important because it symbolizes America," Braedon Fencil, 9, said of his duty to carry the American flag as he marched with Cub Scouts Pack 20, based at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Butler Township. His father, Jason Fencil is cubmaster."It's important that they be here to show respect to everybody that served," he explained of the pack's parade participation.A round of applause followed the scouts as well as each group that marched, including representatives from St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Butler County American Legion Riders and numerous marching veterans.
Ben Simon, 37, of Butler Township said he attended the parade "to honor the veterans who gave their lives and thank those who made it back safely ... What a better way to celebrate this day then a parade."Julia Bonetti of Butler had never before been to a parade.Accompanied by her grandmother, Mary Ann Dunmyre of East Brady, the bubbly 5-year-old said she was eager to see the "horses, fire trucks and flags, especially the flags."For those who did not take a flag, folks like Loulla McElhaney were on-hand and prepared. A member of the First United Methodist Church of Butler's Kindness in Action group, McElhaney and her friends distributed 200 flags to bystanders along the parade route.The group has done this for three years, but this parade was a little different for McElhaney, 58. Her daughter Stephanie McElhaney, 26, of Pittsburgh is a member of the Air National Guard Unit 171, which will deploy to Qatar on June 12.McElhaney spoke with pride about both her daughter and the day's parade."If it wasn't for the military, we wouldn't have the freedoms we have," she said. "This means a lot to me."
