The City of Sarasota and the Patriotic Observance Committee hosted the 2010 Veterans’ Day parade and ceremony on November 11, 2010. The parade will begin at Main Street and Osprey Avenue in downtown Sarasota on Veterans’ Day at 10:00 a.m. and head for the new Five Points roundabout where the traditional ceremony will be held along with a flagpole dedication. Sarasota County’s traveling entertainment stage, the Show Mobile, will greet the paraders and on-lookers at the Main Street roundabout.

Five Points has a long history with our military personnel. In 1917, a flagpole was erected at Five Points and Sarasota pioneer Bertha Palmer donated the original stars and stripes which flew over downtown. While Sarasota’s young men were fighting overseas during World War I, Boy Scouts raised the flag every day. And when veterans returned from the war, they were greeted with a sign on Main Street at Five Points which read, “Welcome Buddies”. Local historian Jeff LaHurd is this year’s keynote speaker and he will elaborate on the history of military veterans and Five Points.

Bertha Palmer’s great-granddaughter, Pauline Joerger, will donate an American flag to fly above Five Points on one of three new flagpoles. Two Boy Scouts, who worked summer jobs on the roundabout, will raise the flag during the ceremony. And there will be a new permanent sign at Five Points announcing ‘Welcome Buddies’, reminiscent of the message which greeted veterans over 90 years ago.