Hundreds line parade route
Butler residents Monday morning thanked veterans for their service in a variety of ways at the annual Veterans Day Parade downtown: some waved small flags; others clapped loudly enough for the sound to echo down Main Street.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, lined sidewalks, veterans and supporters, old and young. Many cupped containers of coffee or hot chocolate in their hands to keep warm.
Jessica Lauer, 28, a Butler native, held her 3-year-old daughter, Ava Rossman, to get a good view of the parade. Ava was dressed head to toe in a replica Army uniform, exactly like her mother's.
“We just saw each other for the first time in 11 months,” said Lauer, who served in the U.S. Army in Kuwait for more than five years. She returned to the United States last month and is stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
It's obvious Ava looks up to her mother, not only with her Army garb, but with the things she tells her mother.
“She's been talking about this parade all week,” Lauer said. “She already told me she wants to be an Army girl when she grows up.”
Lauer's three-day visit in Butler ended Monday, having to return to Fort Belvoir that evening. But she keeps in touch with her daughter through Facetime and Skype while she stays with her father, Dave Rossman.
It's hard to be away from her daughter, she said, but now that she's less than a five-hour drive away, she's excited to be able to come home more often.
Several groups marched in the parade, including the Butler County American Legion Riders, the Salvation Army, the VFW Post 7376, and the Karns City, Moniteau and Butler high school marching bands.
Korean War veteran Ben Cypher, who was named Butler County Veteran of the Year, was grand marshal.
Others who came to the parade do it as an annual tradition, such as Bob and Pat Kosar.“Veterans are first. They supported our country and we need that right now,” said Pat Kosar of Butler.They were also there to see their granddaughter, Rhiannon, perform in the Butler marching band.David Brown of Connoquenessing stood with his wife and mother, holding a handmade sign thanking veterans for their service.“Gotta thank the vets. It's all for them. They're the ones that do the sacrifice,” he said.His father served in Vietnam in the Marine Corps, he said, and Brown was in the Marine Reserves.Robert Novak, a Vietnam War Air Force veteran, said, “I'm just so happy people are doing a lot more now than in the past.”He, along with Rob Parks and his 8-year-old daughter, Mercedes, handed out small flags to children on behalf of the American Legion Post 117. They were also accepting donations.Some children were waving those flags before the parade even started. Siblings Alana, 9, Brock, 7, and Brianna Collins, 13, along with Jaela Yohe, 13, sat on a bench bundled up with a fleece blanket on top of them. Each of them wore a decorative winter hat; Alana wore a dog hat, Brock wore a monkey hat and Brianna wore a zebra hat.Their mother Marie Collins made sure they picked a spot that was close to doughnuts and hot chocolate.“It's important to thank (veterans) for everything they did,” said Collins of Butler.Her uncle was the first Butler County resident to be killed in the Korean War, she said. Her father also served.
Meanwhile, Charles Risch, who owned a family appliance store in Cabot, quietly watched the parade in front of the Butler Lodge doorway. He was drafted in World War II, and served two years in the Navy right out of high school.“I can't believe how some look so young, but I guess I was only 18 when I served,” said Risch of Saxonburg.Because he left for the Navy two weeks before graduation, he didn't get his Knoch High School diploma until 2002, thanks to the efforts of his children. He hails from a military family; his father served in World War I and his brother served in the Korean War. His step-grandson has served in the Navy for seven years.Risch, who attends the parade every year, said, “I show my respects to the ones in the service.”
