Burien Independence Day Parade - Then and Now

Today was the 95th Annual Burien Washington 4th of July Parade. Since I think 1935, leading the parade as the color guard has been the jealously guarded privilege of the American Legion Post in Burien.

I found the first image in the Burien Legion Hall storage room, showing Legionnaires mounting flags on the light poles in preparation for the big event. The date hand written on the back is “July 4th, 1964.” I have a hunch that might be an error as the flags have 48 stars. On the other hand, some of those 48 star flags may have been used for a few more years until the post could replace them all. Sorry about the reflection, but the photo has fused to the glass.

The second photo is from the parade just a couple years ago. The Legion still organizes the color guard, but with the greying of the Legionnaires and thinning of our ranks, we’ve asked the Veterans of Foreign Wars to join us, and of course the boy scouts are lending a hand. Nobody has sent me a photo yet for this year, and I couldn’t take one as I was busy holding the US Flag. (A color bearer with a selfie stick would seem a bit tacky!)

Happy Independence Day everyone! ( and a belated Happy Canada Day to our brothers and sisters up north!)