East Hampton Village is installing banners on village lampposts along Route 27 this week, celebrating local residents who were war veterans. On one side of a banner, names of veterans and the war in which they serve, are listed. The other side lists the date and time of this year’s Veterans Day parade, which sets out from London Jewelers on Friday, Nov. 11, at 10 a.m., and marches to the Veterans Memorial at the Hook Mill flagpole.
“It goes in order. Down by James Lane, if you’re heading east it starts with the Revolutionary War and goes in chronological order through the wars,” said Mayor Jerry Larsen during a phone call. “It was Marcos’s idea, and I thought it was a really nice tribute.” Marcos Baladron is the village administrator.
“There’s about 30 banners in total,” said Mr. Baladron. “This year we have every war except World War II, which would need about 59 banners by itself. Next year we’re going to highlight World War II.”
“Instead of doing a larger parade, we decided to simply augment the parade held by the V.F.W. and the American Legion,” he added. Mr. Baladron worked on the project through the summer, typing up all the names. Hugh King, the village historian; Mike Bouker, deputy superintendent of public works, and Bill Mott, commander of the Everit Albert Herter V.F.W. Post 550 in Wainscott, were all involved in collecting information for the banners.
“The goal is that during that weekend we wanted people to take a walk around the downtown and notice the banners. The names are listed alphabetically, to make it easy for people to find friends and relatives who might have served.”
“It’s about bringing people into town and building community,” said Mayor Larsen. “We really wanted to honor the vets,” said Mr. Baladron. “I was surprised to recognize so many names.”
