The Memorial Day Parade is a longstanding City of Powell event. Residents line Liberty and Olentangy Streets in their patriotic best to welcome veterans, first responders, community organizations, and music groups through downtown Powell each Memorial Day.
Parade Route
Begins at the intersection of Grace Dr. and N. Liberty St., continues south on N. Liberty until turning west on Olentangy St.
Public parking areas may be affected by street closures. Please follow posted detours.
Ceremony
A special memorial ceremony is held immediately following the parade at the Greater Powell Veterans Memorial, located behind the Municipal Building at 47 Hall Street. The Memorial was built to honor all veterans past, present and future and is a place of refection and remembrance.
Dennis McWatters, Captain USMC will be the keynote speaker for the ceremony.
Captain McWatters was commissioned as a Marine officer after graduating from Texas Tech University and accepted for Naval Flight School in Pensacola Florida where he eventually received his Wings of Gold as a fighter pilot. He was stationed at a Marine squadron in Cherry Point North Carolina, and was soon after sent to Vietnam where he flew numerous missions in north Vietnam from Da Nang airbase.
McWatters was promoted to Captain and became a check pilot and test pilot at the Squadron and Group levels.
When he left the Marines, McWatters worked for various aerospace and defense companies, leveraging his security clearances and flight background.
He traveled worldwide to various flight test centers, and NASA locations providing and testing telemetry and flight simulation systems. McWatters became a corporate officer at some of these aerospace companies.
After retiring in 2014 McWatters moved to his wife’s hometown Columbus.
He is on the advisory boards for the Mission court in Delaware, and for the Veterans Homeless Shelter in Columbus, and is a member of the All-Volunteer Force Forum.
Additionally, the Olentangy Rotary Club annually hosts the Field of Flags display in Village Green Park over Memorial Day weekend. Nearly 100 flags will be placed in Village Green Park, near the Greater Powell Veterans Memorial to honor our fallen heroes.