Apr 10, 2007 By Rebekah Sungala 3 min read

Soon flags will be unfurled and downtown Uniontown will be decorated in red, white and blue for the biggest parade held in the city every year. The 74th annual Americanism Day parade will be held May 1. “It starts 7 p.m. sharp, come rain or shine,” said Joe T. Joseph, Americanism Day chairman for the American Legion Post 51 in Uniontown.

Joseph said the public is invited to attend and that applications from those who wish to march or have a float in the parade still are being accepted.

With the ongoing war in Iraq, Joseph said it’s important everyone supports the troops.

“This is the time to be patriotic,” he said.

The procession of veterans, police, fire departments, high school marching bands, Scouts, local officials, dancing schools, motorcycle groups and classic cars will weave its way through the city, where yellow ribbons will be tied around trees and poles.

In addition, about 850 American flags will line the streets and 50 POW/MIA flags will be on display.

Joseph said thousands of people attend the annual event, noting that it’s the lengthiest parade held in the city.

Starting at Uniontown High School, the parade will travel west on Fayette Street, turn right onto Morgantown Street, turn right onto Main Street and turn left onto North Gallatin Avenue, where it will then break up after passing the reviewing stand in front of the American Legion.

The inaugural Americanism Day parade had 5,000 schoolchildren marching with American Legion members, ethnic groups dressed in native costumes, labor unions and other organizations.

The first parade occurred during the Great Depression after the coal strike in 1933, when a group wanted to have a May Day parade to coincide with an annual May Day parade in communist Moscow.

According to Joseph, Uniontown police were concerned there would be trouble whether they granted or denied permission for the parade.

Joseph said legion members, police and others got together and worked out a solution – an Americanism Day celebration.

Reportedly 15,000 people marched in the 1944 parade and an estimated 40,000 spectators attended the 1970 parade. “It’s always been a big event in the city,” Joseph said.

Prior to this year’s parade, Maj. Gen. Frank Helmick will speak during an invitation-only dinner at the American Legion. Helmick recently served as the senior military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense in Washington, D.C. Helmick, Fayette County Commissioner Joseph A. Hardy III and Maggie Hardy Magerko will serve as grand marshals.

Anyone interested in being in the parade or reserving a seat for the dinner can call Joseph at 724-438-8688.