Alpharetta, American Legion Post 201 Honor Old Soldiers Saturday

American Legion Post 201 presents the Old Soldiers Day Race and Parade on Saturday, Aug. 6 with the city of Alpharetta for the 59th year.

The parade theme is "My Flag, My Country: Worth Fighting For," recognizing the living memory of all veterans of all wars.

The parade will be dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, and the memory of those who lost their lives in it.

A performance by the Alpharetta City Band begins the event at  at 9:15 a.m. It is followed by a program at 10 a.m.

Traffic will be detoured around the parade on Saturday morning, and for the Old Soldiers Day Race that starts at 7 a.m. (See traffic detour schedules below.)

The grand marshal–and keynote speaker–will be Brian Stann, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who served two tours of duty in Iraq. As a Marine Corps Infantry Officer, he was awarded the Silver Star.

The Scranton, PA, native lives in Johns Creek with his wife, Teressa, and two young daughters. He might be better known by some as a Mixed Martial Arts champion, with an 11-3-0 record on the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit.

But the children lining the streets of downtown Alpharetta probably will be more impressed by the parade, which begins around 10:30 a.m., starting at City Hall (2 South Main Street). The parade route turns west on Old Milton Parkway and ends at the American Legion Post 201 at Wills Road.

Alpharetta’s 146-year-old event is expected to have approximately 150 units in the parade line-up consisting of marching military units, the Shriners, floats, bands, wagons and horses, classic cars, clowns, prizes and, of course, candy. The Varsity will serve free hot dogs and American Legion Post 201 will provide free soft drinks at parade's end, where the celebration continues with entertainment and children's activities.

The Old Soldiers Day Parade first began in 1865 after the guns were silenced in the War Between the States. The Confederate Soldiers living in and around Milton County, now part of Fulton County, established a time each year to relive a fellowship born of war. They came from miles around by horse, wagon and on foot to a very small town called Alpharetta. Many of them were still living in Alpharetta when the young soldiers of World War I returned to their homes in Milton County. Best evidence would indicate that sometime during 1920 the elderly Confederate Soldiers invited the “Young-uns,” the new veterans of World War I, to assemble to the rear and parade with them down Main Street of Alpharetta. They marched together for only a few years until most were gone and the event faded during the Depression.

Twenty-eight years later, in 1952, a small group of men in Alpharetta from American Legion Post 201 re-dedicated the Old Soldiers Day Parade and began having a parade again in downtown Alpharetta. This would be a tribute and a living memorial to All Veterans of All Wars.

Traffic Detours

OLD MILTON PARKWAY: Closed from GA 9 to Wills Road at 6:45 a.m. for road race
until parade end.

GA 9: Closed from Academy Street to Old Milton Parkway at 9 a.m. until parade
end.

Southbound lanes closed from Canton Street Extension to Academy Street
at 8 am. Traffic will be re-routed to turn right on Canton Street Extension, left onto
Hopewell Road, right on Milton Avenue, and left on Wills Road to GA 9.

Northbound lanes closed at Old Milton Parkway beginning approx. 8:30 a.m. Traffic will be re-routed
to turn right on Old Milton Parkway, left on Haynes Bridge Road, left on Academy Street,
and right on GA 9 during parade.

MILTON AVENUE & OLD CANTON STREET: Closed from GA 9 to Roswell Street/Canton Street for parade line-up.

Attempts will be made to open Roswell Street from Milton Avenue to GA 9 to allow traffic to flow between end of road race and parade start.