Arlington (1080 KRLD) - Thousands of people will line the streets of Downtown Arlington Monday morning for the city's Independence Day parade. The parade starts at 9 a.m.
The parade was cancelled last year for the first time in its 56 year history because of the pandemic.
"We promised everybody we were going to come back stronger than ever in 2021, and we are delivering on that promise," says organizer Will Busby.
The grand marshals for this year's parade will be healthcare workers.
"We always say 'thank you,' but do we really show them thanks?' Busby asks. "I think, this year, we have the opportunity for thousands of people to say, 'thank you,' as they're going through the parade route downtown. One thing I've noticed about medical workers is they don't want the public applause. They do their job because they love helping people."
This year's parade has more than 130 entries. One of the floats was entered by Jeannie and Will Deakyne.
The two were married July 4, 2001. Both are military veterans and were deployed after the September 11 attacks.
This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks and their marriage.
"The float is their gift to each other for their 20th anniversary. They're going to celebrate with the community they love," Busby says. "When they got married, they thought about the wars they would go through, the deployments, but they never thought the parade wouldn't be there for their 20th anniversary. When we told them the parade's going to happen, they got so excited for this gift to each other and to celebrate with the community they love."
The parade is expected to draw more than 75,000 people. Details about the parade and route are available here.
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