NAZARETH, Pa. — Stephanie Grim was anything but.
Grim, of Nazareth, participated in the borough's annual Kazoo Parade in that kicks off the celebration of the Fourth of July weekend.
More than 100 adults and children hummed kazoos and waved American flags as they walked one mile from Nazareth Area High School to Veterans Memorial Square.
- The annual Kazoo Parade in Nazareth on Saturday kicked off the Fourth of July weekend
- Borough Councilman Charles Donello, a Vietnam War veteran, served as Grand Marshal
- The annual event honors and remembers America's military veterans
Some adults carried youngsters on their shoulders, and others pushed kids in strollers or pulled them in wagons.
The gathering ultimately came to rest at the memorial square, where a celebration of America’s military veterans was held.
“Walking a mile to honor veterans like him, with the Fourth of July coming up, is the least we can all do.”Stephanie Grim of Nazareth
During the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Parade Grand Marshal and Borough Councilman Charles Donello, 76, removed his Vietnam War Veterans cap, lifted his eyes to Old Glory and offered a respectful, frozen salute.
“That’s why I walk and play the kazoo and wave this flag,” Grim said afterward, pointing toward Donello. “For guys like Charlie, who served this country during a war that was so unpopular. America called him, and he went.
“Walking a mile to honor veterans like him, with the Fourth of July coming up, is the least we can all do.”
'It's very patriotic'
The annual Kazoo Parade through the borough’s historic downtown is organized by the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce.
Screaming sirens from vehicles with Vigilant Hose Company No. 1 of Nazareth and Nazareth Regional Ambulance Corps also were part of the parade.
Patriotism was alive and well in Nazareth, four days before America’s 247th birthday.
"That’s the true reason for the parade, to honor our veterans.”Maria Carbonetto, Nazareth
“Nazareth does an amazing job with this parade every year around Fourth of July,” Donello said. “It’s very patriotic.
"The borough always remembers the veterans who fought to retain our freedoms. The people here understand the sacrifices that were made.”
Donello knows sacrifice. A Nazareth High School graduate, he was married in August 1966 and drafted into the Army a few months later.
“My wife wanted me, but so did Uncle Sam,” Donello said.
'I'm still here'
Donello wore a shirt emblazoned with the American flag, an eagle, the Declaration of Independence and Mount Rushmore.
He was a member of the 7th Battalion, 8th Artillery, and participated in the Tet Offensive, a coordinated series of casualty-heavy attacks by the North Vietnamese that lasted from January to September 1968.
Donello sustained loss of hearing in his right ear from artillery blasts. He also has peripheral neuropathy, or numbness and weakness in various parts of the body, caused by exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam.
“I’ve got burning and numbness all over,” Donello said. “But I’m here. I’m still here.”
Nazareth Mayor Lance Colondo, who drove Donello in his convertible during the parade, said the kazoo parade originated with the goal of setting a Guinness world record for most kazoos playing at one venue.
“We had more than 300 kazoos in the parade one year, but the record then was 5,190,” Colondo said.
The world record was reset in June, when 10,000 kazoo players performed at an event in Melbourne, Australia.
But as Maria Carbonetto of Nazareth said after walking in the parade with her 16-year-old daughter. Isabella:
“It’s about participating in a great event to support our veterans. That’s the true reason for the parade, to honor our veterans.”
