Veteran, Councilors Speak About Reaching Deal To Continue Duluth’s Memorial Day Parade
DULUTH, Minn. — A veteran and two city councilors spoke with FOX21 about reaching a deal last Friday to keep the Memorial Day parade in West Duluth.
The Memorial Day parade has been a long-standing tradition in the city, but there was a chance this year that it would move to Proctor or Rice Lake.
This, after the veterans who organize it were stunned that the city of Duluth told them the expense to put it on would cost the vets thousands more.
The dispute over the fees was settled as two city councilors took the lead on resolving it.
One veteran tells us that he didn’t always feel heard by city administrators as the negotiations dragged on.
“Just listening to other people’s viewpoints, you have to do that,” John Marshall, a veteran and the captain of the Duluth Honor Guard, said. “You can’t just shut people down, and not hear what they have to say, it’s unacceptable.”
Marshall was instrumental in raising awareness about the parade funding dispute, and did not mince words with how he felt the city of Duluth initially handled the situation.
“I’m very thankful to Arik Forsman and Janet Kennedy for finally, somebody within the city, listening to our problem,” Marshall said. “You know, usually communication and lack of empathy is the biggest problem that any relationship has, but we definitely have that between the veterans community and the city of Duluth for sure.”
After an unwritten “handshake agreement” in 2008 set the cost of the Memorial Day parade at $400, the veterans community was shocked when the city told them that they would need to pay $4,000 for it this year.
“I’m still of the mindset that we shouldn’t be paying anything because that price has been paid for in blood,” Marshall emphasized.
Duluth city council president Arik Forsman and council vice president Janet Kennedy started working on the issue, whittling the cost back down to the original $400 during a meeting with the vets and city administration last week.
“It’s been a long part of Duluth’s history, and it would have been a shame to see it cancelled or moved to another city,” council president Arik Forsman said.
Honoring fallen soldiers from war has been a Duluth tradition dating back to around the 1870s.
“The parade is important to many people, it’s important to my family, my wife and I always bring our kids down to teach them about the history of our country and why we’re here,” Forsman said.
As the city of Duluth re-evaluates what it costs for any group to hold an event that will bring up certain costs, like having police officers secure the area and the public works department helping with logistics, the councilors will now work to keep the cost of the Memorial Day parade low for the veterans groups, and this time, it will be in writing.
For councilor Kennedy, who represents the district in West Duluth where the parade happens every year, losing it would mean erasing a tradition for the community.
“The parade is about our veterans where we always want to honor them, but it’s also for the community,” council vice president Janet Kennedy said. “And I know several community members who’ve grown up being in the parade, watching the parade, and supporting our service men and women.”
Now, the day that honors those who died to serve and protect the country, will continue to have its own moment in Duluth, after the veteran community fought to keep it in the city.
“It’s about honoring our service people,” Kennedy said. “Honoring the people who have served, past and present, and especially those we’ve lost.”
In addition to the $400 fee, the vets also pay a $120 filing fee and $200 for insurance, bringing the total cost to $720.
The Duluth city council will work on a resolution this month that will change the wording of the ordinance related to event fees, so that it specifically says the Memorial Day parade costs must be kept low.
