by Neena Strichart
As the popular old song goes, “I love a parade!” And, in my opinion, Long Beach is the host city for several top-notch annual parades. One of my favorites is the Veterans Day parade. Over the years, I have attended nearly every one of them. Whether I was there taking pictures of participants for the newspaper, or waving to the crowd while riding in a vehicle with hubby Steve, I have enjoyed every minute of each of these star-spangled events.
This year, I will once again be part of the patriotic line-up. This time I will be driving, Mom will be riding shotgun, and three of my young neighbors will be sitting in the back seat. This will be the little boys’ first time even seeing a parade, and we are happy to escort them through the process of being participants. We chose to have them ride with us because the adopted brothers, Ethan (8), Jae (11) and Jae Sang (9), earlier this year celebrated their naturalization as U.S. citizens. Look for us in the burgundy-colored Honda CRV sporting Signal Tribune magnetic signs on the doors. We won’t be hard to miss. We’ll be the ones doing all the yelling and flag-waving! The event will take place this Saturday, Nov. 8, starting at 10am on Atlantic Avenue between Harding and 56th streets. We hope to see you there!
With all that said, I’d like to boast a little about our production of the Long Beach Veterans Day Parade program. This is the second year in a row that the Signal Tribune was in charge of the design and content of the glossy handout. Those of us involved worked very hard to create a keepsake type of booklet that would be informative and thought-provoking. Our goal was to educate and entertain with articles and advertising that would feed the readers’ minds and souls. I think we succeeded.
Included in the program is a welcome letter from the parade committee, biographies on the grand marshal and honorary grand marshal, a list of parade participants, the history of each branch of the military and a touching story by our editor Cory Bilicko regarding a local nonprofit group that helps teach veterans about digital photography. Also included is my favorite part of the booklet— the centerfold pictorial and story of the beautiful veterans-themed mural located at the southeast corner of Harding Street and Atlantic Avenue.
Created by artist Art Mortimer in 2006, the mural is the last thing those in the parade see before stepping off for their journey down the parade route. I was there the day the mural was officially unveiled eight years ago, but I don’t remember learning much about it at the time. Through the years, I had driven by the masterpiece, wondering about the images portrayed in the painting. I recognized a few of the people depicted and had been especially taken by the portrait of Aaron Herrington in his Tuskeegee Airman uniform. Dear Aaron is the late husband of Maycie Herrington, a longtime friend and my mother’s former coworker. Aaron was also the first African-American member of my husband Steve’s Elks Lodge #888.
Seeing Aaron’s likeness when I first saw the mural made me smile. But it also made me want to learn more about this beautiful painting on the side of a wall in north Long Beach. I also wanted our readers to know the details of how and why he was there and the full story of the mural itself. We are so happy to bring you those tidbits of information in the parade program.
Note: We have the centerfold of the mural in this issue of the Signal Tribune. See pages 10 and 11 for yourself, and you’ll understand why I love that mural so much.
A very special thank-you goes out to those who wrote and copy-edited the stories and took the pictures. Extra kudos belong to our Leighanna Nierle, who did the page layout, designed the ads and artistically created the publication. Also, none of this would have been possible without all the help from our friend Martha Thuente of the Long Beach Veterans Day Committee and the support of the advertisers. Be sure to pick up your copy at the parade or check out our website signaltribune.com for a link to the booklet.
