Veterans Day In Port Washington: Car Parade, Service Planned

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A first-ever Veterans Day car parade is planned along Port Washington's Main Street to thank those military veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The parade will begin at 10:15 a.m. and runs from Campus Drive to the John Philip Sousa Memorial Bandshell at Sunset Park. A service is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Bandshell with social-distancing and mask-wearing.

"This year Port Washington American Legion Post 509 and VFW Post 1819 will participate in our first ever Veteran’s Day Vehicle Parade," the Bandshell Committee wrote on the organization's website. "We will be joined by our local Fire, EMS and Police Departments and their vehicles. Come and watch the parade, from Campus Drive to Port Washington Blvd and down Main Street to the Sousa Band Shell."

Local veterans will appear on stage as part of a socially-distanced ceremony, Michael Scotto, president of the Bandshell, told Patch in a phone interview Friday. About 50 people in all are expected to attend.

Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was established as a federal holiday in 1938 to honor the end of World War I, which took place Nov. 11, 1918.

After receiving feedback from veterans groups, Congress in 1954 amended the legislation to strike the word "Armistice" and replace it with "Veterans."

In 1968, legislation was signed that gave federal workers three-day weekends by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. However, many states didn't agree with the decision and instead celebrated the holidays on their original dates. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed on Oct. 25, 1971.

Four years later, President Gerald Ford signed into law legislation that returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978.