Philadelphia Veterans Day Parade and Festival

We also want to talk about the Philadelphia Veterans Day Parade, which is also happening today. I want to bring in Anthony Murphy. He is the president. Hey, Anthony. Happy Sunday. Happy Sunday to you. Thank you. How are you? I'm good. How are you doing this morning? Oh, I'm excited as usual and working very hard, making sure that we get everything in line so we're ready to kick off at 1230. 100%. All right, an hour left. Tell us a little bit about the parade and all the planning and hard work that, you know, went into getting this ready for today. Well, the veterans parade is 12 years now. And what goes into getting it ready is, of course, getting participants, getting things in a lineup. Getting support for it to make it happen, and then to launch it out. We have a Grand Marshal who's 98 years old. He was in World War II in a Montford Point Marine, and there's some history to being a Montford Point Marine because initially the Montford Point Marines had to go and build their own barracks in order to train. We have Hometown Hero, our officer that was recently slain. He's going to be a memory we have of him for that. We will also have hometown hero, Deputy Commissioner Michael Cram, and he'll be a lead in the continued self-police. We have veterans from all of the major conflicts that are taking place. It's just amazing. And the work that goes into it, you work almost all year for this particular day, and you work to make it happen because we want to salute the women and men That have written a check in order to make sure that our nation. As democracy and freedom 100%, you know, just talk about how important it is to have something like this, you know, in the community today. It's extremely important. We have to look out for those who have given and those who have sacrificed. That's, that's the mission. And to recognize them because many times they are not recognized and they're not given the kudos that they should have. And we want to make sure that we know and show the appreciation for them and when they're serving. On this particular day, and we have a beautiful day, I mean, we've done it in the rain, but today you have clear sky, you have absolutely a beautiful day to make it happen, and the object is we want to make sure that our vets know that we care. 100%. And, you know, talk about how long do people have, or participants have, you know, if they want to apply and be a part of the parade, or for next year, I guess. For next year, we generally open up the, the website is there all the time, but around March, you'll be able to put in an application, and the application is only so we know who you are, because we're not going to turn anyone away that wants to be in the parade. And also, you know, just asking you, how does it feel for you to see so many people come out and support the parade, and, you know, also to see how many people really participate? It's truly a blessing. The Veterans Parade started 12 years ago, and it had a lot of support. But what has happened over the years, it has maintained that support and continued to grow. And so we have a festival that goes along with the parade. And we do a festival in order to make sure that we can push out information to the community in reference to veteran services, things that veterans can access. Because one of our largest problems, the largest homeless population of vets are female, with children. We have to highlight those kind of conditions, those problems. This parade is just one of those things in order to do that. All right. Well, we love all that you're doing and, you know, also getting this running for 12 years straight. So it kicks off at 1230. What time do you anticipate that it will wrap tonight or today? It'll probably wrap around 3, 330. Okay. It's a nice, it's a nice size. It takes a lot of work to get it done. And kudos to all those who support us and also to the city of Philadelphia. 100% and it's a beautiful day for it. So Anthony, thank you so much for hanging out with us this morning. And also thank you for all that you do. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And hopefully we can talk again next year. 100% Thank you, Anthony.