CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. -- By mid-morning on Monday, the sides of State Street in Clarks Summit were filled with people.
The Melvin family has been among them for as long as they can remember.
"Well, I love the parade because it brings everyone in the community out, and I especially like it because my mom's brother died in World War II and so it has very sentimental feelings for me and my mother," said Joyce Melvin.
At 11 a.m. the parade steps off. Organizers say this year's was one of the borough's biggest.
"This is community at its best, it really is, the people in the parade, it's churches, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, cars. It's just everything. It's really what America is about, the small town community," said Karen Arscott of Waverly.
Outside Borough Hall, parade-goers bought raffle tickets to support Clarks Summit's latest efforts to remember fallen veterans.
Clarks Summit Borough just completed work on Veterans Memorial Park on State Street. Monet raised during the Memorial Day parade will help with maintenance in the park.
"We hope to keep it beautiful because we are honoring our veteran heroes," said Mayor Herman Johnson.
"What I like about this day is that we're remembering our deceased veterans and their families. I think that's what it's all about. We wouldn't have our freedom if it wasn't for them," said Johnson.