Memorial Day 2024

Memorial Day Parade Program 2024

Monday, May 27, 2024

Falls Church, Virginia

Inside This Program:

Page 10 Veterans Ceremony Information

Page 14 Parade Grand Marshal

Page 19 Letter from the Mayor

Page 20 Memorial Day Schedule

Page 22 Parade & Festival Map

Page 23 Memorial Day Vendor List

Page 24 Parade Lineup

Memorial Day Ceremony 2023

Monday, May 27th at 11:00am

City of Falls Church Veterans Memorial 223 Little Falls St., Falls Church, VA 22046

Master of Ceremonies

Harry Shovlin, American Legion Post 130

Posting of Colors

Color Guard from American Legion Post 130

Posting of MIA Flag

Richard Anton, American Legion Post 130 National Anthem

City of Falls Church Concert Band Under the direction of Robert Little Vocals by Sgt. Major Robert Petillo (Retired), US Army Band Invocation

Rev. Mike Gutzler, Pastor, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Welcoming

Marybeth Connelly, City Council, City of Falls Church Remembrance of the POW/MIAs

Travis Hafner, Commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9274

Presentations, Announcements, & Remarks

Jerome Gibbon Chairman, Greater Falls Church Veterans Council Presentations & Announcements

Maj. David Hatcher, United States Army (Ret.), West Point 1968

Keynote Address

Maj. David Hatcher, United States Army (Ret.), West Point 1968 Presentation of Wreath in Memory of Departed Veterans

Sara Madden, Daughters of the American Revolution, Falls Church Chapter Escorted by Richard L. Anton, American Legion Post 130, and Howard Chatham, LCDR, United States Navy (Ret.)

Reading of Names

Harry Shovlin, Vice Chairman, Greater Falls Church Veterans Council, American Legion Post 130

Prayer for the Departed Veterans

Rev. Mike Gutzler, Pastor, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Taps

MGySgt. John Abbracciamento, United States Marine Band (Ret.)

Retiring of Colors

Color Guard, American Legion Post 130

God Bless America

City of Falls Church Concert Band Under the direction of Robert Little Vocals by Sgt. Maj. Robert Petillo, United States Army Band (Ret.)

This program was prepared by representatives of the Greater Falls Church Veterans Council including

is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a

Letter From City of Falls Church Mayor

Welcome to the City of Falls Church’s annual Memorial Day Parade and Festivities! We are pleased that you’ve chosen to spend this special day in The Little City. Besides the official kickoff of summer, the Memorial Day event is one of our most beloved traditions and an annual reminder of why I’m thankful for our community.

As we gather on Memorial Day, it is important to remember the purpose of this holiday. Today we celebrate the military service members who have given their lives for their country. We pay tribute to these American heroes and their families and friends whose lives are forever changed, and we celebrate their legacy by honoring their commitment and sacrifices for our freedoms.

I hope you’ll join the Greater Falls Church Veterans Council for the Memorial Day Ceremony at 11:00 a.m. outside of the Community Center to honor fallen military service members, celebrate veterans, and recognize those who continue to serve in our Nation’s military. United States Army Major David Hatcher (Ret.) will be the keynote speaker for the ceremony.

At 2:00 p.m., join us for the 42nd annual Memorial Day parade along Park Avenue. The parade Grand Marshal is former Falls Church Police Chief Mary Gavin, who was selected based on her remarkable career in public safety, particularly the 16 years of dedicated service with the City of Falls Church Police Department before her retirement in early 2024.

I encourage you to make this day an annual reminder of the good we can do in our communities and the world in honor of those who gave their lives in service.

Letty Hardi, Mayor City of Falls Church, Virginia

MEMORIAL DAY

Mary Gavin, 2024 Mem. Day Parade Grand Marshal

by Brian Reach Falls Church News-Press

After 38 years of dedicated service in law enforcement, including 16 with the Falls Church Police Department and 11 years as its chief, Mary Gavin is now embracing retirement and the welldeserved freedom it brings. The Little City isn’t done showing its appreciation for the lifelong public servant however, honoring Gavin with the prestigious role of Grand Marshal for this year’s Memorial Day Parade, one of Falls Church’s most celebrated events.

Gavin’s transition to retirement has been filled with travel, having recently returned from a two-week tour of Italy and Austria with a group of friends. “For me, 38 years is enough. I’m ready to start relaxing and playing,” Gavin said. “Police work, or any public safety role, can be all-consuming. You’re always on call; you always have two phones on you; your thoughts are always on the city. Now I can concentrate on me and my family, which is kinda fun.”

Gavin’s selection as the Grand Marshal came as a pleasant sur-

prise — she’s been in the Memorial Day Parade for 16 years, but never in such a prominent capacity.

During Monday’s festivities, she is most excited about enjoying carnival food, reconnecting with first responders, and showing appreciation to the community. She looks forward to engaging with the community from a new perspective — no longer as a city employee, but now as “an appreciative retiree.”

Gavin emphasized the importance of festive gatherings like the parade. “Moments celebrated by the community: the Memorial Day Parade, July 4 fireworks... they define a community, just like the Farmer’s Market or the News-Press do,” she said.

During her tenure, Gavin felt “exceedingly blessed” to have been a part of the Falls Church Police Department, which she praised for its dedication to serving the community’s needs and wants. Her time in Falls Church was marked by significant accomplishments and a strong bond with the city’s residents. Gavin credits the department’s success to its mission of community service and the collaborative efforts of its

officers and staff.

Looking ahead, Gavin expressed confidence in the future of the Falls Church Police Department under the leadership of the new police chief, Shahram Fard. Having known Fard previously, Gavin described him as excellent and expressed excitement for the new chapter the department is entering. She believes the transition has been fantastic and is optimistic about the department’s continued success in serving the community.

Gavin’s decades of service have left a lasting impact on Falls Church, and her presence as Grand Marshal at the Memorial Day Parade has her appropriately leading the festivities while embodying the spirit of dedication and community that has defined her career. Her journey from a dedicated police chief to a celebrated retiree and community figure demonstrates the enduring connection between public service and community well-being.

With her duties now transitioned to chief Fard, Gavin is now enjoying the fruits of her labor. On Monday, the community she has helped to shape and protect will recognize her service as she continues her well-deserved Golden Years.

MARY GAVIN (right), Grand Marshal of the 2024 Memorial Day Parade, enjoyed Austria with her daughter Maddie Smith. (Courtesy Photo)

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First Female Elected Commander of VFW Post 9274

by Patricia Leslie

The first woman to lead the Falls Church post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has been elected to serve the office for the coming year.

Heather Lampkin, a former Marine, has been elected commander of VFW Post 9274 for the term beginning June 1 and is emphatic that “it’s not about me, but it’s about serving veterans.

“The VFW has always drawn me in because of my dad,” she said, “and I think of that and helping serve the veterans. To give them a place where they can go where they may not fit in other places, but at the VFW, we share a sense of community and camaraderie.

“My goal is to create that kind of environment and a place where we can feel like family,” she said in a telephone interview.

Lampkin grew up with a sense of duty and purpose “to do something to help the greater good,” following in the footsteps of her father who served in Vietnam and her grandfather in World War II.

In her small hometown in northeast Texas, she observed how much the VFW meant to her dad “who left a piece of himself in Vietnam.”

When they were children, he would take her and her sister to family friendly events at the VFW where she “could just see what [the VFW] did for him, giving him a sense of belonging and boosting his morale, being around people of similar mindsets.”

Lampkin was only a sixth grader when the tragedy struck on 9/11. When she graduated from high school, she joined the Marines, never giving a thought to any other military branch because the Marines “spoke to me.”

She spent three months in boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. known for its treacherous environmental conditions, like high temperatures, humidity, and “sand fleas” not to mention the renowned Marine training, but she soldiered through, serving three deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places in the Middle East.

When she later came to this area for her assignment at the Marine base at Quantico, the size and traffic in Northern VIrginia and “moving to the big city” made her feel “a little uncomfortable. It was a very different environment,” from what she knew, but the allure and magnetism of the Little City where she visited friends, made an impact and it was almost love at first sight, including the VFW building which, once she spied it on Shreve Road, took only two days for her to join after she moved here.

In 2015 she left northern Virginia for Camp Pendleton, CA, her last post and her exit two years later from active military service as a staff sergeant. Returning to this area, she resumed college at George Mason University where she got her degree in criminology and now works for the State Department.

The Falls Church VFW will participate in the city’s Memorial Day parade on May 26, handing out flags and hosting an open house

for the community at the Shreve Road post from 4 to 10 p.m. with yard games, activities for children, hot dogs and hamburgers.

There is no charge.

The VFW is a non-profit organization which receives funding from rentals of the post facility for parties, weddings, baby showers and other special events, and it is the home of the “canteen” on Tuesdays through Sundays since “veterans have still got to have their Bud Lights,” Lampkin laughed. The VFW is always open to the community, she emphasized.

She credited the VFW Auxiliary for its hours devoted to the organization, helping attract members and families, hosting Christmas parties, making cookies and other treats, and inviting Santa Claus to come for a visit, among many activities the auxiliary performs.

Membership in the VFW is limited to those who have served the military overseas while the auxiliary is open to most relatives of a qualifying veteran.

The post’s website gives a brief history of the VFW which “was founded in 1899 to assist the neglected veterans of the SpanishAmerican War. Membership grew to 5,000 by 1915, 200,000 by 1936, and to over 1.5 million by today. Now there are some 9,000 posts in the nation and more than 200 in Virginia.”

The Falls Church post was chartered in 1947 and named the Martin Leppert Sipes Post in honor of four soldiers killed in action during World War II: R. Jacques Martin, US Navy, killed when torpedoed off Iceland; his brother, Paul F. Martin, US Army, killed in France; Norman E. Leppert, US Marine Corps, killed in the South Pacific and James E. Sipes, US Navy, killed in the Western Pacific.

“It’s important to make sure that Memorial Day is focused on remembering all the veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice,’’ Lampkin said. “We’re here to remember what this holiday is all about.”

VFW Post, 7118 Shreve Road, Falls Church 22043. Ph. 703-241-9274. vfwpost9274.org

LAMPKIN WAS Promoted to Staff Sargeant in 2016, while sailing across the Indian Ocean aboard the USS Boxer. (Photo: Heather Lampkin)

9:00 a.m.

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

11:00 a.m.

11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m.

MEMORIAL DAY

Monday, May 27, 2024

City Hall Grounds (300 Park Avenue)

Beyer Auto Group 3K Fun Run • Start Line at Great Falls Street & Little Falls Street Intersection Runners Only, Rollerblades and Bikes Not Permitted

Festival • Kids Rides & Inflatables, Vendor Booths, Food and Crafts for Sale

Live Music on the Main Stage • Coozies - 9:15 a.m. City of Falls Church Concert Band - 12:30 p.m.

Memorial Day Ceremony • Veterans Memorial, Outside the Community CenterKeynote Speaker: Major David Hatcher, United States Army (Ret.), West Point 1968

INOVA Blood Drive • Appointments at the INOVA Bloodmobile, Outside Community Center on Little Falls Street

Parade, Led by Grand Marshal Mary Gavin

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Under the Sea Week! June 17-21

Pirates Week! June 24-28

July

Around the World Week! July 8-12

Super Hero Week! July 15-19 Disney Week! July 22-26

Olympics Week! July 29-August 2

August

Survivor Week! August 5-9

Hawaiian Luau Week! August 12-16

Going Green Week! August 19-23

Cherry Hill Park Playground

Index Coffee Roasters

Asian Taste

Anita's Frozen Cotton Candy

Sweet Frog

LB Concessions

E-san Thai Food & Drinks

Papa's Kettle Korn

Johnson Family Funnel Cakes

Midnite Express

International Grill

Mom's Momo

Sara Festival

Bigwifes Mac N Cheese

Anita's Frozen Cotton Candy

Virginia Vendor Food Services

TK Grill

Beyer Kia

Prince William Home Improvement

Patient First

Renewal by Andersen

Kitchen Saver

Passanante's Home Food Services

Social Justice Committee of FC Vicinity

Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation

VPIS

Falls Church Public Access

Conscious Planet Save Soil

Friends of Falls Church Homeless Shelter

The Kensington Falls Church

Falls Church Community Service Council

Baroody Camps

The Falls Church Episcopal

Falls Church Chamber of Commerce

Falun Dafa

Lions Club

Blended Desserts

Family of Nuts

Temalle Ltd

Merchants, Crafts, & Civic Groups

Courtney Lapenta, LLC

Nature's Essentials

True Honey Teas

Alejandra Jewelry

Paint Me! Paint Me!

Milena Guro Designs

ITUMIRAY

Fahrenheit99 & Co.

Roots of Development

Zana De Mexico

Yisoobinaturals

PatchDanas

C. Logan Wheeler Art

Cocoa Cottage Studio

Grandma Mary's Buttons & Bows

Alyssa Bazaar

Amaryllis Author LLC

Alyssa Mae Crafts

Cocorendiy

Cutco Cutlery

Night Watch Pediatric Urgent Care

Goldfish Swim School

Sweet Promise

Happy Henna Guy

League of Women Voters Falls Church

Concerned Citizens Against Gun Violence

Falls Church Democratic Committee

Welcoming Falls Church

Dulin Cooperative Preschool

The Toy Nest

MTNC

Hometown Go

Everybody Loves Ramen

Mark Cottman Gallery

AJDream

Minda S Fashion

Sumak Art

Mam Jam's Candle Company

Bailey’s Crossroads Rotary Club

1. Falls Church City Sheriff’s Department

2. City of Falls Church Police Department

3.

8.

9. Greater Falls Church

10. Martin Leppert Sipes VFW Post 9274

11. Rhode Island Military

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day Parade Lineup

Vehicle Collectors Club (RIMVCC)

12. Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department

13. Falls Church Recreation and Parks Department

14. Falls Church News-Press

15. Centro Cultural Bolivia

16. Commonwealth Attorney’s Office of Arlington & Falls Church

17. Nokesville 4-H Equestrian Club

18. Mini Moke

19. Friendship Woodridge International Marching Eagles

20. Girl Scouts of Service Unit 50-14 in Falls Church

21. Falls Church Kiwanis Little League

22. Scout Troop 1996

23. Blue Ivy Dance Team

24. Underdog

25. The DC Wheels

26. Tinkus San Simon Filial Virginia

27. 1947 Dodge Deluxe Club Coupe

28. Cub Scout Pack 681

29. Operation EarthWatch

30. McKinley Tech High School JROTC Phoenix

Battalion

31. Falun Dafa of Washington DC

32. Concerned Citizens Against Gun Violence

33. Temple Rodef Shalom

34. Filthy’s Garage Creative

35. Alma Boliviana

36. Kena Shriners

37. Dogtopia of Falls Church

38. Cub Scout Pack 657

39. C-Ryderz and Xtreme Corvette Club

40. John F Nicoll Pipe Band

41. Citizens for a Better City (CBC)

42. Falls Church City Democratic Committee

43. Bikenetic Bike Shop

44. Cheer DC

45. Maha Yoga

46. Girls Scout Service Unit 50-12

47. NOVA Parks

48. Tinkus Bolivia USA

49. VIGEO Physical Therapy

50. Cub Scout Pack 1127

51. Falls Church City 4-H Community Club

52. Northern Virginia Women’s Rugby Football Club

53. TriPoint Our Little Miss

54. Anointed to Praise Drill Team & Drumline

55. Save Soil

56. Welcoming Falls Church

57. Elite Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics

58. The Kensington Falls Church

59. Tinkus Tiataco USA

60. City of Falls Church Public Works Dept

Family and Cosmetic Dentistry