Charleroi to host Washington County Veterans Day parade
This photo of Charles D. Reimer, who served as a U.S. Army Air Forces pilot in World War II, will appear on a banner in his hometown of Charleroi.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Peter Kalamaras Jr.
CHARLEROI – Charleroi will host the annual Veterans Day parade next month, and the downtown streets will be lined with new banners honoring those with local ties who served in the military.
A Charleroi native and decorated U.S. Army officer who is set to retire will return to his hometown to serve as grand marshal of the Nov. 7 parade, Borough Manager Donn Henderson said.
Lt. Col. Peter Kalamaras Jr., who was raised above his parents’ bar and went on to become an Army medical platoon leader and company executive officer, will lead the 2 p.m. parade that will follow McKean and Fallowfield avenues.
“I think it’s wonderful that he’s coming back to his hometown,” said Bob Branch, commander of American Legion Post 22 in Charleroi.
Kalamaras served as executive officer of the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq in 2008 and is currently assigned to the Army’s headquarters within the Office of the Surgeon General in Falls Church, Va.
“I am humbled and honored to return to celebrate Veterans Day 2015 with the community that has been instrumental in my life,” said Kalamaras, whose parents owned Kaly’s Bar and Restaurant in the 400 block of Fallowfield.
The newly formed Hometown Heroes Banner Committee also is selling cloth flags saluting Charleroi veterans to hang from lamp posts in the downtown. The banners will display a photograph of the veteran and will include some biographical information about the veteran’s military service.
The deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday to purchase a banner in time for the parade. The committee, however, will continue to sell the banners for display in the downtown between Memorial Day and Veterans Day every year.
“I’m a veteran and all for it,” said Nikki Sheppick, chairman of Charleroi Area Historical Society, which is backing the banner project.
Application forms can be downloaded from the borough website at www.charleroiboro.org.
The completed forms, payments and photos of the veterans can be delivered to the mail slot in the front door to the society’s H. Goaziou Print Shop at 807 Fallowfield Ave. For additional information, leave a message at 724-483-4961.