Americanism Day Parade set for May 1 in Uniontown

American Legion Post 51 is proudly announcing the 85th annual Americanism Day Parade will begin at 7 p.m. May 1 in Uniontown.
“It’s a milestone for us,” said Robert Doria, post commander, of the parade that is enthusiastically greeted by area residents as it moves down Main Street from the State Theatre Center for the Arts to Five Corners, the intersection that includes General George C. Marshall Memorial Plaza.
Line up begins at 6:15 p.m. on Gallatin Avenue for the parade that will include veterans organizations, Junior ROTC groups, school bands, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Fayette County Commissioners, members of the Fayette County Veterans Affairs office under Director Madonna Nicklow, Fayette County Sheriff James Custer and the search and rescue team, Fayette County Treasurer Nancy Wilson , Uniontown Mayor Ed Fike and Uniontown police as well as other local officials, businesses and organizations.
Colonel Gilbert L. Patton, of the Air National Guard 171st Air Refueling Wing in Coraopolis, will serve as grand marshal.
According to his biography, Patton commands nearly 300 personnel assigned to the 146th Air Refueling Squadron, 147th Air Refueling Squadron, 171st Operations Support Squadron, and 258th Air Traffic Control Squadron as well as air traffic control facilities at Johnstown-Cambria County Airport.
Patton received his commission in 1992 from the Academy of Military Science. He completed undergraduate pilot training at Columbus AFB, Mississippi in 1993 and is a distinguished graduate of the KC-135A Combat Crew Training School, Castle AFB, California.
Patton has led operational deployments in 109 countries. Additionally, he has served as Air Tasking Order Coordinator, mobility planner, and targeting officer at Ninth Air Force. He is appointed by the Secretary of the Air Force as a Regional Affairs Strategist, with designated specialty in Latin America as well as with substantial experience in the former-Soviet republics of the Caucuses and Central Asia. He has served in joint assignments both as a personnel officer and as a headquarters-level comptroller.
Patton joined the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in 2004 and has served in both the 193rd Special Operations Wing and the 171st Air Refueling Wing. He was appointed Commander, 171st Operations Group in September 2014.
Patton will speak at a dinner held at the American Legion prior to the parade. American Legion officials also appearing at the dinner and parade include Paul Kennedy, of the Pittsburgh area, who is state commander; Kit Watson, of the Waynesburg area, who is department adjutant; and Bob Munhall, of Munhall, Pennsylvania, who is the 24th District commander. Kimberly Gwyn, adjutant of American Legion Post 801 in Roscoe and a candidate for Ms. Veteran America 2018, will also appear.
The North Union Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8543 Band will perform at the dinner and in the parade while the streets of Uniontown will be adorned with U.S. flags set by members of American Legion Post 51, assisted by the Elks and Knights of Columbus.
Kathleen McLaughlin of Uniontown, daughter of Mason McLaughlin, one of the parade founders, will also participate in the parade.
According to a history provided by American Legion Post 51, the parade began after radical activity that took place during and after the 1933 coal strike in western Pennsylvania. A group of communists asked permission to have a parade on May Day in 1934 to coincide with Moscow’s annual May Day Parade.
“Five Legionnaires of Lafayette Post 51, American Legion, Chief of Police A.W. Davis, Recruiting Sergeant James Smith, Matty Bain, Allen Parke and Mason McLaughlin offered an alternative to our town, an Americanism Day with speeches, a parade and it would include everybody. In 1937, the state representatives from Fayette County secured the passage of a joint resolution in the legislature to set aside May 1 as Americanism Day throughout Pennsylvania by the governor’s proclamation.”