PHOTO — Grand Marshal Mark Levine waves to people while guiding West Haven’s Memorial Day parade up Campbell Avenue on Monday morning, May 29. Levine, an Army veteran and a lifelong Westie, served in the Vietnam War in 1970-71. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
WEST HAVEN, May 30, 2023 — Vietnam veteran Mark Levine led the city’s Memorial Day parade as grand marshal, guiding the 48-unit procession of veterans, bands and dignitaries, including Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and other city officials, along Campbell Avenue on Monday morning, May 29.
The parade stepped from Captain Thomas Boulevard north to Center Street, where hundreds of revelers thronged the 1 ½-mile route, American flags waving, for the annual patriotic march.
Levine, 73, an Army vet who served in the Vietnam War in 1970-71, was tapped by the West Haven Veterans Council, which helps the city organize the parade, for his years of service to the military, his fellow vets and his community.
Joining the procession and riding shotgun in a golf cart was 101-year-old Jules Bashkin, a World War II Army veteran and a longtime saxophone player in the Connecticut-based Survivors Swing Band.
The 90-minute parade included a dramatic flyover by a C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft operated by the Connecticut Air National Guard.
The event, in memory of the deceased members of the U.S. armed forces of all wars, is the oldest parade of its kind in southern Connecticut.
In addition to veterans groups and marching bands, anchored by the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums and the West Haven High School Band, the procession featured the traditional contingent of youth organizations and sports leagues, dance and Scout troupes, fraternal organizations and service clubs, local and state leaders, police officers and firefighters.
It included cheerleaders from the West Haven Seahawks, a fleet of Jeeps from the Connecticut Beach Cruisers and members of the West Haven High dance team, as well as bands from West Haven’s Rock House School of Music.
Along the route, the city promoted its popular Co-Collection Pilot Program, which is funded by a $1.3 million Sustainable Materials Management grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The program has been successful in separating food scraps from the waste stream and converting them to renewable energy and soil amendments, according to city officials.
Since the pilot began in November 2022, the city has seen a 12% reduction in waste and a 38% increase in recycling.
High schoolers from West Haven marched in the parade to celebrate the program’s accomplishments to date and to highlight another city venture into sustainability: electric vehicles.
In 2021, the city purchased 10 electric Nissan Leaf cars to complement its fleet.
After the parade, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the World War I Armistice Memorial on the Green.
— MICHAEL P. WALSH, Public Relations Information Coordinator
Scenes from West Haven’s Memorial Day parade
Grand Marshal Mark Levine waves to people while guiding West Haven’s Memorial Day parade up Campbell Avenue on Monday morning, May 29. Levine, an Army veteran and a lifelong Westie, served in the Vietnam War in 1970-71. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
The crowded Campbell Avenue parade route near Atwater Street. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
The West Haven Police Honor Guard helms the procession. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
West Haven Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, center right, waves to paradegoers while leading city and state officials along Campbell Avenue. From left, city Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli, state Rep. Treneé McGee, City Clerk Patricia C. Horvath and City Councilman Gary Donovan, D-at large. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
The West Haven High School Band. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
The West Haven High cheerleading team. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
Members of the organization West Haven Vietnam Veterans. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
World War II Army veteran Jules Bashkin, 101, rides shotgun in a golf cart. (City Photo/Beth A. Sabo)
The Harry M. Bailey Middle School Band. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
The Notre Dame High School Drum Line. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
Rock House School of Music owner John McCarthy, center, fires up the crowd as a band from the West Haven music school performs. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
Members of the city’s recycling management team hold signs promoting West Haven’s Co-Collection Pilot Program while flanking a decorated Nissan Leaf electric car that is part of the city’s fleet. The program, which began in November 2022, has been successful in separating food scraps from the waste stream and converting them to renewable energy and soil amendments. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
Members of the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums are led by West Haven drum major Tony Mancini. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
From left, the First Fire Taxation District’s Board of Fire Commissioners, Treasurer John Carew, Secretary Herbert Hill and Chairman Bruce E. Sweeney, ride in a 1935 Mack pump firetruck driven by West Haven Fire Department Superintendent of Apparatus Tony Capuano. The firetruck was formerly operated by the department’s North End Hose Company. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
(City Photos/Michael P. Walsh)