MASONTOWN - Fayette County District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon will be the featured guest speaker and parade marshal when Masontown hosts the annual Veterans Day parade and program Wednesday.
Vernon, who was elected last week as the first woman to be elected as a judge in Fayette County, will speak during a program at the Veterans War Memorial, located in the parking lot of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4584 in Masontown.
The unofficial tally from Tuesday's general election showed Vernon, the county's district attorney, with 12,933 votes to the 10,738 garnered by attorney Ernest P. DeHaas III. She ended up with 55 percent of the vote to his 45 percent.
Election results in all of the races remain unofficial until the official count is done, and the vote is certified by the county's election bureau.
Vernon, a Fayette County native, was elected the county's first female district attorney in 1999. She tried 26 homicide cases as a prosecutor, with
15 resulting in first-degree murder convictions and nine in third-degree murder convictions. In two of the first-degree cases, she obtained a death sentence from jurors.
Vernon also was the county's first female trial lawyer.
VFW Post 4584 Cmdr. Walter Scarton said the program will be held immediately following the parade, which is set to begin at 10:30 a.m.
Parade participants are asked to line up near Haky Funeral Home on North Main Street.
From there, the parade will proceed up Main Street and will proceed down River Avenue to the VFW building.
A combined honor guard representing all veteran organizations will present arms at 11 a.m.
Fayette County's tribute to its war dead will be symbolized by a firing squad doing a 21-gun salute and a bugler sounding taps.
Scarton said that several local veterans' organizations, fire departments and civic groups will participate in the parade, along with various high school and area marching units, including the Uniontown VFW Post 47 band.
November 06, 2009