30th Memorial Day Parade Goes According to Plan

Bolivian dance troupes, Scottish pipe bands and several marching bands took their acts to the street and down Park Avenue as area residents turned up to honor living and fallen service members. The street procession was part of Falls Church City’s Memorial Day Parade, a tradition going back almost thirty years.

Paul Barkley, one of the three repeat judges at the dais has rated passing acts for the last three years. He said while he looks for crowd appeal, creativity, uniqueness, appearance and effort, picking winners was hard because everyone put so much effort into their shows.

“We have seen a fantastic number of exhibits,” he said. “It is a very difficult job to judge these, I tell you.”

Winners are selected from various categories best like classic cars, best band and drums corps and best float. A judge’s choice award is also presented in a separate category.

Los Caporale de San Simon performer Marizabel Moya is hoping that her group wins. The group is made up of dancers from nearby Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria. Moya has performed at the Falls Church parade four times and won twice, but she says winning is not what keeps her coming back.

“We like to perform in parades so we can show our support for the community and give our thanks back for them letting us perform in their parade,” she said. “Falls Church is a wonderful parade, the community and the people are just awesome. We love it here. We feel the love and the welcome of the crowd.”

While Carnelle Washington, an Arlington resident had a choice to attend the bigger national parade in DC, a friend invited him to Falls Church. He fell in love with the Baltimore West Siders Marching Band and he could not pick a favorite from the nine Bolivian groups.

Beyond the vendors, the summer weather and the different performances Washington had a kind word for anyone who has served or is serving in the military.

“I want to say to all the veterans and the servicemen out there thank you very much and I really appreciate what you are doing for me.”