photo by: Lily O'Shea Becker

Participants line up for the Lawrence Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 12, 2022, in downtown Lawrence.

The Lawrence Veterans Day Parade is scheduled for Nov. 4 in downtown Lawrence.

The annual parade, meant to celebrate and honor all veterans in Douglas County, will proceed south down Massachusetts Street from Seventh Street to 11th Street beginning at 11 a.m.

The parade will feature local veterans of all services, color guards and the University of Kansas Marching Jayhawks band. A military flyover is also tentatively scheduled.

The parade’s board has selected Jean Knablein Francisco to be the grand marshal. In October 1944, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy as part of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She served until 1947, then came to Kansas with her husband, Dr. W. David Francisco, who had also served in the Navy. They had three children, including Marci Francisco, former Lawrence mayor and current state senator.

Though the parade is on Nov. 4, Veterans Day itself is a federal holiday that is observed on Nov. 11 every year. The date recognizes the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, the official end of World War I.

More information about the Lawrence parade, including how to participate, is available online at VeteransDay-Lawrence.org, or by calling the Veteran’s Day Parade Association at (785) 576-3765.