EPHRATA — There was a pretty good turnout Saturday for the annual Veterans Day Parade in Ephrata, organizers said.

“We probably had about 100 people in the parade,” said Mike Montaney, who added he’s been the parade chairman for 25 years. “We only had about half a dozen veterans actually marching in the parade as a group of veterans. We had (about) 30 Civil Air Patrol and some Scouts and a (veterans motorcycle club).”

The parade route wasn’t long, only about half a mile, he said. Marchers gathered at the Grant County Courthouse, walked down C Street Southwest to Second Avenue, went a block east and marched back up Basin Street. The parade was timed to stop at precisely 11:11 a.m. at the Ephrata Recreation Center, where seven riflemen from the Ephrata and Moses Lake American Legion posts fired a 21-gun salute.

Montaney wasn’t sure how many spectators turned out, but he said he saw at least 50-60 just on C Street.

“It's very, very important as far as we're concerned that we have the Veterans Day Parade on Veterans Day,” said Jane Montaney, past president of the American Legion Auxilliary and another parade organizer. “We fire the salute at the same time (as) the armistice, 11:11.”

The timing of the memorial dates back to 1918, when the cease-fire that ended hostilities in World War I took effect. Nov. 11 was thereafter celebrated in the United States as Armistice Day until 1954, according to the Library of Congress’ website, when the name was changed to Veterans Day to commemorate veterans of both world wars. British Commonwealth nations that took part in World War I celebrate the day as Remembrance Day.

    Riflemen from American Legion Post 28 in Ephrata and Post 209 in Moses Lake fire a 21-gun salute at precisely 11:11 a.m. at the Veterans Day parade in Ephrata Saturday.
  

The celebration began early in Ephrata, Jane said, with the Civil Air Patrol laying out flags at the cemetery between 6:30 and 7 a.m. The CAP also invited the public to a luncheon at the Legion Post. There were 12 or 13 slow cookers filled with soup, Jane said, as well as sandwich makings. Close to 100 people partook of that, Mike said.

The American Legion has been holding Veterans Day parades in Ephrata since 1996, Mike said.

“We had a lot more veterans marching in the parade then,” he said. “Because they were mostly Vietnam veterans, who are now in their 70s and 80s.”

    A Girl Scout troop was among the marchers in the annual Veterans Day parade in Ephrata Saturday.
  

Saturday’s turnout may have been the best since the pandemic, Jane said.

“Being out on Basin Street, I was able to see the numbers of our community members that came out to see the parade,” Jane said. “I was very, very pleased with the numbers. That shows that there's more and more people that are caring about our country and the veterans that are serving it.”

    Two veterans salute at Taps is played at the Veterans Day ceremony outside the Ephrata Recreation Center Saturday.
  

    A family cheers on the Veterans Day parade as it winds through downtown Ephrata Saturday.
  

Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected]. Rebecca Pettingill contributed to this report.