DowntownRaleigh.com Sponsoring This Weekend's "Salute To Our Troops" Parade and Festival

Those cool kids at DowntownRaleigh.com are at it again! This time they're sponsoring something near and dear to my heart... Salute To Our Troops. Not only is this great event aimed at saying "Thank You" and "We Support You" to our current servicemen, it's also meant to do the same for their families... the ones who make a sacrifice many can never begin to comprehend.

Here's what DowntownRaleigh.com's "What's Down...Town" weekly email newsletter says about the event (sign up here for the weekly dish):

On Saturday, April 26 at 1000 hours, North Carolinians will have an opportunity to show why their state is the Nation’s Most Military Friendly State as Salute to Our Troops kicks off with a parade in downtown Raleigh!

It will be the largest military parade in the history of the state. Personnel from every branch of the military and from bases across North Carolina will gather for the parade which begins at 10 a.m. on the south end of Fayetteville Street with a flyover by F-15E Strike Eagle jet aircraft from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The parade formation will head north from the intersection of Fayetteville and Davie Streets to the State Capitol Building and then north to and around the state government complex. Military service members from the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, North Carolina National Guard and each service’s reserve group will be participating.

In addition to service members and their families, there will be military bands, drill teams and honor guards as well as marching bands from the universities, colleges and high schools of North Carolina. Vehicles including military armored personnel carriers, mobile missile launch systems, medical transport equipment and other tactical assets will also be featured in the parade. Riders on the floats will primarily be military family members.

The parade is just the start of the day’s events! Public and military access to an open static display area of equipment used by the modern day military will begin at the conclusion of the parade. Including weaponry, armored vehicles, marine rescue, climbing walls and other equipment. These displays will be provided by active military bases, military branch recruiting and military contractors/suppliers. Also, there will be at least four maybe six NASCAR team’s show cars sponsored by various branches of the military. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series show cars for 2008 will be on exhibition and in the parade.

So be sure to come on out to line Fayetteville Street in Downtown Raleigh at 10am to show the nation that North Carolina is the most military friendly state!

Detailed information on the parade and the day’s events is available at the official event web site: http://www.saluteournctroops.org/.