Community Update

Two years ago my family and I moved to Arlington from a small semi-rural town in southeastern Connecticut.  Knowing very little about the area, we chose Arlington for all the most common reasons:  good schools, low crime, (comparatively) affordable housing, and proximity to Boston.  

What we couldn't base our decision on was all the intangibles: neighbors, neighborhood, community, all that stuff that can't be easily quantified.  

To say we are happy with our choice would be an understatement.  We love everything about Arlington except for the traffic.  But there isn't much I can do about that.  

There is one are where Arlington unfortunately falls woefully short compared to little old Essex, CT, the town we moved from.  And that is respect for veterans.  
We moved to Arlington in April 2012 and were eager to attend the Memorial Day parade.  What we found was a small gathering of people who cared.  But it was SMALL.  I would describe the crowd as a few dozen people.  For a town of 43,000 people this is embarrassing.  

I don't care if you are a PhD who works in life sciences, and IT guy, an oil man, a hairdresser, or a cop.  You owe it to the vets to come out to this parade.  

I hadn't really thought about the low turnout for the Memorial Day Parade until I went back to Essex this year for memorial day.  Essex has a population of 4600 people.  A volunteer fireman I spoke with that day told me that the turnout was expected to top 1000 people.  ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE.  Thats 1 in 5 taking the time to show respect to the Vets marching and being driven in the parade.  
If Arlington could pull that kind of crowd, there would be almost 10,000 people lining MA ave clapping and thanking our Vets.  
It doesn't matter if you agree with Bush's wars.  Or Obama's wars, or whatever.  These men and women laid it all on the line.  Like the saying goes, all gave some, some gave all.  
Arlington can do better.  In many other areas, I've seen a great sense of community in Arlington.  If we can tap into that, I think we can get a much better turnout.  
 I'm not sure what I can do to make a difference, but I'm open to suggestions. 
Don Mei