BANGOR — With the Fourth of July Parade just around the corner, interest in the Veterans Walking Stick Program remains strong at Cole Land Transportation Museum this summer.
The museum has given out dozens of the Maine-made walking sticks to Maine veterans of four war eras since opening on May 1 for the season, bringing the grand total since 1999 to more than 9,400, according to Director of Operations Jim Neville, a retired Marine.
More than one-third of the total have gone to Vietnam War veterans, Neville said, men and women who are so grateful to be receiving a thank you after coming home to a negative reception more than 40 years ago.
Maine veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Global War on Terror may receive a walking stick by bringing their DD 214 discharge paper, other proof of service or current military ID and signing up at the museum 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through Nov. 11 at 405 Perry Road.
Veterans of all four war eras will march in groups during the Fourth of July Parade beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 4, on Wilson Street near Brewer Auditorium in Brewer. The parade, which begins 15 minutes after the annual Warren Bishop 3K Road Race, will proceed across the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge and turn right down Main Street in Bangor, then along State Street before turning onto Exchange Street before disbanding.
Veterans with Maine walking sticks who did not get a 2015 red-white-and-blue sticker for their walking stick on Memorial Day may receive one from volunteers who will apply them to walking sticks 9:30-11 a.m. Fourth of July on the lawn next to where the veterans will form up for the parade on Wilson Street.
Cyr buses will be available to carry veterans who can’t walk the route along Wilson Street in Brewer and down Main Street in Bangor. Buses will bring participating veterans back to the beginning of the parade route after the parade.
For information on Cole Land Transportation Museum, visit colemuseum.org or call 990-3600, ext. 13.