Parade to Honor the United Way's 75th Anniversary

Kevin Firestone with the Jaycees

The Newark Area Jaycees are restoring a time-honored tradition...the United Way Community Parade. 

“The Newark Area Jaycees Community Parade will be held Sunday, September 21st. It will start at Wilson Middle School and go down Church Street to the Square. It starts at 2 p.m.”

Kevin Firestone says the parade was last held in 2006. 

“It hasn’t been held for a couple of years. I think it just kind of became too much to bear for the Licking County United Way. We kind of identified it as something that is really lacking in the community that the community likes to support. So, we decided to take that on this year and bring back the community parade.”

Firestone says the event will honor a very special event. 

“The theme is kind of honoring the past and looking towards the future. We are doing this parade in honor of the United Way of Licking County’s 75th Anniversary. The Newark Area Jaycees (and the United Way) has a storied past with the parade. They have helped with it since the 1960s, so we kind of wanted to hold the parade and reflect on those memories, but also look toward the next 75 years and beyond.”


Firestone explains how your business or community group can register for the parade. 

“We will be sending out a mailing to local businesses and organizations within the next couple of weeks. So, they can look for information in their mailbox or they can get onto the Newark Area Jaycees website, which is www.newarkareajaycees.org/parade. All of the registration forms and information will be posted up there.”

There is no cost to register, but the entries will be limited to the first 150.

An old-fashioned chicken barbeque featuring live entertainment will be held on the Courthouse Square immediately after the parade.