Nov 3, 2014 2 min read

MONESSEN – The organizer of this year’s regional Veterans Day parade is trying a different approach to liven up the event by hosting an exhibit on a company that supplies airplane ejection seats across the globe.

Martin Baker, based in England, will set up the display at 30 Donner Ave., a street that will be the route for the parade Saturday in Monessen, which will include marchers from across Washington County.

“They have a factory in Johnstown and make ejection seats for every country that produces airplanes,” said Ron Chromulak, chairman of Monessen Veterans Council.

The Veterans Administration and Fisher House Foundation, which provides temporary housing for relatives of hospitalized veterans, also will have displays in the building.

“I approached the parade from a different angle by getting corporate sponsors,” Chromulak said Monday.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mark Mourier, a Monessen native, will speak at the luncheon for veterans before the parade begins at 2 p.m. at Parente Boulevard.

Mourier is a science teacher in North Carolina who also worked for 34 years in the military police and did a tour in Iraq. He also is a graduate of California University of Pennsylvania.

Monessen bowed out of the parade twice before it returned five years ago to sponsor the event, which rotates annually between the city, Monongahela, Charleroi, Donora and Washington.

The Civil Air Patrol will conduct a flyover in a Cessna 182 during the parade. A plane passenger will be photographing the city and in radio contact with the judge’s stand, allowing those in the area to hear their voices.