Next Monday is Memorial Day in America. The federal holiday honors and mourns military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
     The holiday, which is always observed on the last Monday in May, falls a little early in 2020, but that is good because this year it feels like we have all been fighting a war.
     We should pause and say prayers for our soldiers, as the country has done since 1870.
     But this year, let’s include everyone who has fought and been lost in the battle against COVID-19.
     Memorial Day is also the official beginning of the summer season.
     The time when state parks and beaches open, and the kids are finishing up the school year for summer.
     Out in the backyard the BBQ is dusted off and the stores shed racks of ribs, hot dogs, chips and pretzels as those traditional summer foods go centerstage.      The portable radio is set and tuned for the baseball game, and ice buckets are loaded with beer and placed within arm’s reach.
     But alas, in a world turned upside down, kids are already home and while the backyard can still function, in most towns big and small the parade—usually the centerpiece of this seasonal celebration—looks like a goner.
     Earlier this year in New York City, officials cancelled the St. Patrick's Day Parade (March 17) for the first time in more that 250 years.
     Unfortunately, things haven’t opened up much since then, so there are no parades for Memorial Day in New York or many other places.
     But here we offer a parade that you can link up to your flat screen TV.
     The music just at the conclusion of the movie The Music Man starring Robert Preston includes one of the more rousing parades that you are ever likely to see.
     So, stick with this presentation; it starts off slow, befitting the general mood today in our COVID-19 world.
     Here are some musicians who seem to be having trouble getting into tune, just like many of us right now.
     But then all of a sudden, the movie suspends disbelief, picks up its game, and gets into a parade that dreams are made of.
     I like that just as the music ends here, so does the film finale!
     Makes you want to quash the quarantine and get outside!
     Try it.
     Happy Memorial Day 2020!
Geoffrey