Old Solider's Day Parade

On Saturday, August 1st, the Rotary Club of Alpharetta marked its 24th year participating in the 63rd annual Old Soldiers Day Parade. “We have grown from eight people that first year, including my son Carlylse and daughter Libby, to over a hundred people, and a great turnout for our picnic,“ Joel Canada, parade organizer for the club, said. “That first year we needed all the help we could get.”

Another feature the club has added to the parade is the TOPLESS parade, where members bring convertibles to decorate and drive in the parade. This is the fifth year of the TOPLESS parade. Canada added the parade is “a fun time for all of us to come together and celebrate America.” The club said it looks forward to another great celebration to honor our Old Soldiers in 2016.

The Old Soldiers Day Parade began years ago as a tribute to veterans of the Civil War, but was discontinued after a few years. Twenty-eight years later, in 1952, a small group of men in Alpharetta re-dedicated Old Soldiers Day Parade in Alpharetta and started having a parade through downtown Alpharetta. The parade is now an annual celebration to all veterans of all wars.