Plans announced for parade in 2026
By Cary Shuman
The Lynn Veterans Council (LVC) will hold the 2025 Salute To Service Golf Tournament on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at Gannon Municipal Golf Course in Lynn.
The event is the first of several LVC fundraisers whose proceeds will go toward defraying expenses for next year’s North Shore Veterans and First Responders Parade to be held on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026 in Lynn.
LVC member Mark King scheduled a press conference and photo opportunity at Gannon during which Mayor Jared Nicholson expressed his support for the LVC’s efforts in running the golf tournament and organizing the parade.
“I have been so honored to work with the Veterans Council the last few years and they’ve done amazing work on a number of projects, and we want to support them on this really exciting endeavor to celebrate the country, to thank the veterans, and do it altogether as a community,” said Nicholson. “I’m so excited that we’re able to support them as they support our veterans, and this parade is just an amazing way to do that.”
King projects that the parade will cost $100,000 to organize and conduct.
“The fact is, the Veterans Council, as a group, is sponsoring this parade,” noted King. “We are running many functions to raise the money, and the golf tournament is the start.”
LVC President Wayne Johnson said the goal is to hold the golf tournament annually for the purpose of raising funds for other city projects honoring veterans.
“One of the big things, way in the future that we’re looking at is putting a memorial at the Veterans Memorial Park, originally Lynn Heritage Park, by the ocean,” said Johnson, while noting the LVC’s memorial tribute for war hero Richard Fecteau with a monument in the city and the installation of the U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Bradley J. Campus Monument at Clark Street Playground (in coordination with past LVC President Charlie Griffin and Sgt. Major Ken Oswald).
Reading Cooperative Bank has stepped up as a key sponsor of the golf tournament. Vice President and Community Development Officer Kerri Ranieri, who represented the bank at the press conference, said, “We’re a cooperative bank and we send a vote out to our customers and ask them where they’d like to see our charitable funds go to, and for Lynn, veterans and senior citizens are the No. 1 and No. 2 causes, which are my passion.”
Sgt. Major Ken Oswald, Council Secretary, said the 2026 North Shore Veterans and First Responders Parade will also be remembering “the 25th anniversary of 9/11 at the World Trade Center, the 25th anniversary of the global war on terror and the 250th birthday of America.”
“It’s going to be a big parade, and it’s not just for the City of Lynn, it’s for the whole North Shore,” said Oswald. “You’re looking at probably 15-16 fire companies involved, 15-16 police departments involved, and then all the veterans’ organizations from the North Shore, along with military vehicles.”