As communities across the state prepare to observe the Memorial Day holiday, the city of Dearborn will be celebrating a special milestone. It will be hosting the 100th anniversary of the longest running Memorial Day parade in Michigan. According to the city, thousands of people from Dearborn and surrounding communities attend the parade each year. 

To mark this centennial, One Detroit spoke to Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and this year’s parade Grand Marshal, U.S. Navy Captain Sam Sareini, a Dearborn native and one of the first Muslim Americans to command a U.S. Navy warship. They discuss the history of the parade, its meaning to the community and the reason this tradition has endured for 100 years. 

The Memorial Day event will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a military funeral procession, to be followed by the parade itself at approximately 10 a.m. The route of the parade is along Michigan Avenue, starting at Schaefer and concluding at the city’s Veterans Park and War Memorial in front of the Henry Ford Centennial Library.

Additional information about all the activities that day can be found on the City of Dearborn’s website.