Centreville Day is a time of celebration, and a parade is the perfect way to start things off with a bang. Under parade chairman Bill Judd, this year's event is no exception. It features everything from bands to bikes to decorated floats to the ever-popular marching, Drill Cart Book Team from Centreville Regional Library.
The parade starts at 10 a.m., traveling from Centreville High along Union Mill and Old Braddock roads to Old Centreville Crossing Shopping Center. Participants should arrive at the school by 9 a.m., and children with decorated bikes, wagons, scooters, etc. are welcome to join in. See www.centrevilleday.com for more information.
The Centreville American Legion organizes the parade and helps out at the staging area. Judd, one of its members, says this year's extravaganza should be terrific.
"I expect several hundred participants," he said. "The parade seems to be growing bigger, every year, and this one should be really nice. I just hope it doesn't rain."
SURE TO PLEASE the crowd will be the Centreville and Westfield high school marching bands, as well as perennial audience-favorite, Jim Moyer's Oak View Circus Club, featuring children riding unicycles, tumbling, balancing, juggling, stilt-walking and doing acrobatics.
The Knights of Columbus Color Corps will lead the way. The Baha'i Faith of Centreville will participate, as will the Moms Club of Clifton/Centreville South, the Lane's Mill Chapter of the DAR, Cox Farms and the Book Cart Drill Team.
The Fairfax County Sheriff's Office will bring motor units, a cruiser and two bicycle units, plus the sheriff riding in a convertible. Personnel from Centreville fire stations 17 and 38 will ride in fire trucks, engines and ambulances, and a police motorcycle escort will flank each end of the parade.
Girl Scouts, Brownies, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts usually participate and, with everyone up for re-election in November, lots of local politicians will be marching along, too, smiling and shaking hands with the voters.