The City of Sarasota, in conjunction with the Sarasota Patriotic Observance Committee, will host its annual Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 11. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Osprey Avenue in downtown Sarasota and will move east to west on Main Street, ending at Gulfstream Avenue. The festivities will culminate in an 11 a.m. ceremony at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park at the corner of Gulfstream Avenue and Main Street, recognizing the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month when the armistice was signed in 1918, ending World War I. 

This year’s ceremony will honor Vietnam veterans and all female veterans, including World War II female vets, with the theme “All Gave Some. Some Gave All.” The keynote speaker will be retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Charles L. Thomas, who served for 28 years before teaching JROTC at Sarasota Military Academy.

The parade will feature the color guards from the Sarasota Police Department, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and Sarasota County Fire Department, antique military vehicles, a low-level flyover from a Sheriff’s Office helicopter, students from Riverview and Booker high schools, Sarasota Military Academy and the Venice Middle School Junior Marines, Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Boy Scouts of America and many other veterans groups, community organizations and local dignitaries.