Mar 6, 2020 2 min read

Monessen has been removed from a rotation of towns that has hosted the region’s annual Veterans Day parade and program for more than a century.

The Washington County commissioners informed the city in writing Thursday that the board wants the parade to exclusively rotate among towns within Washington County.

The decision followed the realization that the parade organizer, Mon Valley Veterans Council, ceased to exist after not following its bylaws, the letter indicates.

“In recent years, however, the bylaws and protocol have not been followed, and the prescribed rotation has been broken,” the commissioners stated in the letter addressed to Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw.

The parade has heavily focused on the Mon Valley since 1919, having been organized by towns there where thousands of men worked and participated in two world wars, Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi said.

The towns, especially Monessen, have suffered population losses after the collapse of the steel industry. Monessen also has been dealing with a severe blight problem following its economic decline.

Maggi said parade organizers reached out to various veterans groups in Monessen and they all confessed to not having enough volunteers to organize the event.

The Westmoreland County city was supposed to host the 2019 parade, but it backed out, leaving neighboring Charleroi with little time to organize the event, Maggi said.

Monessen veterans were still welcome to participate in parades in Washington County, he said.

The county directed the Monongahela Veterans Council to organize the first “all-Washington County” parade and program on Nov. 7.

The parade locations also have included Donora and Washington.

Staff writer Barbara S. Miller contributed to this story.