TULSA, Okla. — Veterans Day is a day to honor and thank those who served this country.
To celebrate, Tulsa's 105th annual parade takes place on Friday, starting downtown at 11 am.
Before the festivities kick off, the Tulsa VFW will be offering a free breakfast.
The VFW's event coordinator and parade coordinator, Joshua Starks, said they typically serve about 1,500 to 2,000 people at breakfast, then fire up the grills again for lunch after the parade. That breakfast begins at 7 am, happening inside VFW Post 577 at 1109 E. 6th Street in Tulsa.
Meanwhile, as they set up for Friday's parade, next year's is already well underway.
"We typically start planning next year's parade before this year's parade," Starks said. "So, we've already started next year's— it takes over 12 months to plan this parade, especially this size."
He said 4,600 people will march in this year's parade, making it the largest Veterans Day Parade in Tulsa so far.
About seven years ago, 1,500 to 2,000 people participated in the parade, he said.
Marchers will be joined by 118 floats this year.
On Thursday, the VFW put the finishing touches on their float. It will seat about 30 veterans and be dressed with red, white, and blue ribbons — and the VFW sign.
One of the organizations that will have a float is called "Soldier's Wish," which helps veterans and their families with an assortment of needs. However, Soldier's Wish will have a different kind of float.
"We'll have this amazing deuce and a half, and then we'll also have a semi-truck," says Debra Wimpee, the organization's executive director and the mayor of Broken Arrow.
"It's pretty spectacular when you see it coming down the street," Wimpee said.
Stark expects the parade to last about two hours.
For him, this parade means so much more than just honoring veterans, as he has a long history with Tulsa's Veterans Day Parade.
"I've seen it from almost every angle," he said. "I've seen it from the kid getting candy on the side of the road. I saw it as a boy scout marching, and ROTC, at Will Rogers [High School], I marched in it. Then, after 9/11, when I enlisted in the army, I came back and got to march. Then, when I came back from war, it seemed like a natural fit for me to take over."
Stark, who served in Afghanistan, hopes Tulsans can take a moment to come down to the parade and stop and thank veterans. When people thank them, he says it truly means a lot.
Drivers will want to keep in mind that from 8:30 am until 1 pm, a number of streets in the downtown core will be closed off to traffic, as you can see on the map below.
8:30am: School Bus parking (Yellow)
10:30am: Parade Route Closes (Green)
11:00am: Parade Begins
1:00pm: Streets Reopen
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