The Northwest Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce will commemorate Memorial Day with a parade and other activities on Saturday, May 28, in High Ridge.
“We are going to try and make this an annual event,” chamber board member Jim Lehnhoff said.
The parade will start at 10 a.m. at Fellowship Baptist Church, 2735 High Ridge Blvd., and travel about a half mile, ending at the Northwest Branch of the Jefferson Library, 5680 Hwy. PP, in High Ridge.
“It is a Memorial Day parade to honor those who’ve served our country and to support the High Ridge community,” Lehnhoff said.
He said the parade route along High Ridge Boulevard will be lined with American flags. Lehnhoff said he expects 50 entries in the parade, the theme of which is the USA.
“We are looking for classic cars, sports cars, business floats, military vehicles,” he said.
Parade entry costs $15. To enter, call Lehnhoff at 314-803-1248 or email him at jlehnhoff@fmbbanking.com.
After the parade, there will be a car show; a suit giveaway and discount sale; a raffle; a touch a truck event; food trucks and more.
Car cruise
The Old Time Finds antique store will hold a car cruise starting right after the parade and lasting until 4 p.m. at the shop, 2807 Barbara Drive, in High Ridge, manager Paula Bausworth said.
She said it’s free to enter the show. It’s also free to attend and check out the cars.
She said even though the event is called a car cruise, cars entered in the show will stay parked on the lot and not cruise.
“Ideally the cars will participate in the parade then park here,” Bausworth said.
A flea market with 15 vendors also will be held outside the shop, she said.
Bausworth said Old Time Finds also will raffle off a basket, and only veterans may enter to win.
She said several food trucks also will be in the store’s parking lot.
To register for the car cruise, call the store at 636-495-3900 or sign up in person at the shop.
Suit Giveaway and Discount Sale
HEROES Care, which assists local military members and their families, will hold a Men’s Warehouse suit giveaway, as well as a sale of items donated to the organization.
At the giveaway, which will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the High Ridge Fire Protection District Headquarters, 2842 High Ridge Blvd., current military members and veterans may pick out one or two suits, volunteer Karen Miniea of High Ridge said.
She said 600 men’s suits will be available. In addition, she said several businesses will be at the giveaway looking for people to hire.
“It’s kind of a good job opportunity for men and women,” she said.
The Discount Sale will be from 9 a.m. to noon at Pupillo’s Banquet and Event Center, 3033 High Ridge Blvd., where HEROES Care will sell donated items from its warehouse.
The sale is open to the public.
Miniea said the money collected at the sale will be used to help military families.
Raffle
Miniea said HEROES Care has also teamed up with more than 20 businesses in High Ridge to raffle off battery-operated Radio Flyer cars.
She said the participating businesses will sell raffle tickets for $2 each, and a drawing will be held on May 23.
Each of the participating businesses will pick a winner, and all those winners will receive a car.
Miniea said non-winning tickets will be entered into another raffle for more chances to win. That raffle will be held on May 28.
Touch a truck
The Northwest Branch of the Jefferson County Library will hold a touch a truck event the same day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the branch’s parking lot, 5680 Hwy. PP, in High Ridge.
At the event, people will be able to check out and touch a big rig, concrete mixer, dump truck, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office vehicle, skid steer, gas tanker, tow truck and school bus.
“For the kids who are going off to kindergarten in the fall, they will be able to get on the bus with their mom and dad and check it out,” branch manager Cindy Hayes said.
She said the family-friendly event is free.
“Being a nice spring weekend, it would be a nice event outside,” she said.
Hayes said the Kona Ice truck also will be on hand selling snow cones.