By Alison Eddy Bellingham celebrated Memorial Day weekend with the Whatcom Memorial Day Parade on Saturday, May 26 in downtown Bellingham. The parade started at the corner of Alabama Street and Cornwall Avenue and ended at the corner of York and State Streets. The parade featured about 100 different organizations and honored the military personnel who have served, according to the parade’s Facebook page. This parade was formerly known as the Blossomtime parade, but it was cancelled this year until the Whatcom County Marine Corps League Detachment 1335 raised money to continue to parade, according to the parade’s Facebook page. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Recruiter Ravi Gill was a parade spectator and a veteran who served in Iraq. He said this parade is important to the community because it remembers all the people who served and gave up their lives for our freedom. “Every American community has veterans and people who, if they haven’t served directly, have family members who have served,” Gill said. “Everybody is part of this whole country.” Gill said the parade will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in the next couple of years.
