On the heels of the Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade‘s return in 2022, joining the legions of major 94941 events that were stuck in virtual land for the years prior due to the COVID-19 crisis, the parade is back and looking to be better than ever.
“The Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade will once again be ‘LIVE’ on May 29th this year,” says Larry “the Hat” Lautzker, one of the parade’s organizers.
Parade applications are live at mviloveaparade.com.
As usual, the parade kicks off with the special Veterans Ceremony, which includes the student K-8 essay contest, “What does Memorial Day mean to me?” starting at 9:45 at Lytton Square followed by the parade from Old Mill School at 10:30 before heading down Miller Avenue.
The I Love a Parade committee – Lautzker, Clifford Waldeck and Paul Moe – have added a new “Become a Sponsor” option for Chamber Members and the community on the website. The options for sponsoring are on the form.
Organizers are bringing back the glory days of Mill Valley parades, Color Guard and dogs marching, with a trophy for best dog. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, bikes, skateboards, Redwoods Drum Corps, Veterans float, lots of kids and more. “A heads up to the Bad Fashion offenders in our community, The Famous4 Fashion Police will be out in force, protecting our children from being exposed to and the damage caused by reckless coordination, wardrobe expired, bad banana khaki karma, excessive accessorizing and other violations that harm our kids ideas of fashion understanding and confidence,” Lautzker says.
There are more than 60 different parade entries in most years and trophies are awarded for Best Car, Best Float, Best Dog, Best Music, Best Novelty, Best Business, Best Community Spirit and Best Overall.
As usual, the parade will be preceded by the return of the Mill Valley Volunteer Firefighters’ Association’s Pancake Breakfast from 7-11am, followed by the aforementioned Veterans Ceremony at Lytton Square, the tree-laden island that splits the road between Miller and Corte Madera avenues into two and is named for Lytton Barber, Mill Valley’s first WWI casualty.
The parade is one key piece of a blockbuster weekend in Mill Valley, including Kiddo!‘s annual four-day Kiddo! Family Carnival. There will be rides for all ages, plus food and games. Advance discounted ticket vouchers are $30 and may be turned in at the Carnival for a ticket book or for a one day wrist band for unlimited rides.
The Mill Valley Historical Society will have its annual ‘Walk Into History’ event over Memorial Day Weekend. MORE INFO.
Kiddo! Memorial Day Celebration 12-5:15pm on Friends Field – FREE ADMISSION
Immediately after the parade on Friends Field at the Mill Valley Community Center, Kiddo!, (in collaboration with Mill Valley Recreation, The City of Mill Valley, Famous4 Productions) is hosting a free “Concert on the Green” from 12:30-5:00pm. Bands TBA. The event is free to the community. There will also be tasty food and beverages for all ages from local vendors available for purchase. DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN ADULT BEVERAGES. Beer, wine, and other assorted beverages will be sold at the event with proceeds to benefit Mill Valley Schools Community Foundation. For more information, please contact the Kiddo! office at (415) 389-7789 or visit the Kiddo! website at www.kiddo.org.