Aiken marks Memorial Day early with parade
May 29—Downtown Aiken was awash in red, white and blue on May 28, with hundreds of parade participants and observers getting an early start on Memorial Day.
This year's parade had the traditional military mix, representing several decades of the armed forces, and a multi-school band helping provide a soundtrack. Midland Valley, Aiken and South Aiken high schools joined forces to help set the parade to music, reaching along Park Avenue and Laurens Street.
"People seemed very friendly," in the assessment of Cedar Creek resident Eric Foreman, who rode in the parade with S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken. Foreman's background includes a variety of receptions, as he served from 1969 to 2005 in the Air Force, being based in the U.S., Spain and El Salvador. He retired as a major.
Jeanette Moseley, co-owner of Vampire Penguin, said she and her husband opened their eatery a little early Saturday, offering "coffee and potions" to help accommodate parade traffic. Their traditional opening time is noon, but "I think next year, we might just go ahead and open at 10:30 a.m.," she said, acknowledging plenty of pedestrians.
One of the parade's most prominent roles went to Army veteran Hal Peck, 99, an Indiana native who served in the 226th Signal Corps, and arrived on a Normandy beach June 17, 1944, in the immediate aftermath of D-Day.
A few yards away in Saturday's procession was Army veteran Wanda L. Dicks, a South Aiken High School graduate chosen as the parade's first lady. Her background includes having served in Iraq, in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, both via the 122nd Engineer Battalion. Her years of service ran from 1983 to 2008.
