By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
EAST DURHAM — The parade may have come two days after the Fourth of July, but there was plenty of patriotism on display this weekend.
The Durham Task Force organized the parade down Route 145, which drew local organizations, businesses, first responders and more to honor the nation’s birth.
“This is our 29th Fourth of July parade,” said Brenna Rustick, the new president of the Durham Task Force. “We want people to have a sense of community.”
The parade each year is a community effort with numerous groups and individuals supporting the event both before and during the festivities.
“We have a lot of community people donating to this,” Rustick said. “People are donating their time to help out and groups are marching in the parade. This gets the community together.”
Organization of the parade for years had been handled by local resident Linda Sutton, but this year she turned the reins over to a new group. As a thank you for her years of service, the Durham Task Force named Sutton the parade’s grand marshal.
“She has been running this for a long time and she stepped down this year,” Rustick said. “She and her husband, Tommy Sutton, who is a police officer in town, they have been doing this for a while and we took over for them. But they were a massive help this year so a big thank you goes out to them.”
Sutton, who said she has been organizing the parade for the past 25 years, was humble in accepting the grand marshal honor, but said she “would rather be on the working end of it.”
“I turned it over this year — there is a whole new group that is organizing it,” Sutton added. “This year is a learning experience for everyone.”
But while the parade’s leadership may have changed, one thing remains the same about the Independence Day celebration.
“We live in a great country and everybody’s got to come out and celebrate every once in a while,” Sutton said.
The parade drew dozens of groups marching down Route 145, with the procession ending at the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural and Sports Centre. At the parade’s conclusion, everyone got together for free hot dogs and ice cream, as patriotic tunes were played.
Mike Adrian, commander of VFW Post 983 in Cairo, said the sacrifices of those who served in the armed forces make celebrations like the parade possible.
“We are celebrating independence, coming out and joining the community of East Durham and showing what the Vietnam wall is about, and what the men gave their lives for,” Adrian said of the replica wall that was featured in the parade. “This is why people can do this today.”
Here are more images from Saturday’s parade:
