A few days before the terror attacks of September 11, Ashland once again gathered thousands of people in town to celebrate the annual ABA parade.. That year was particular questionable, however. Rumors had persisted for years that the 100th would be the last… In 2001, as a new century commenced, the Ashland Boys Association suddenly gained enough help from younger volunteers that it was able to have a parade one more time..
There would not be many more after this..
Several people who I commiserate with often tell me their best year, their best memory, was the 2001 parade.. For me? A similar experience. At midnight that day I turned 21, a whole life was ahead of me.. For many of my friends, we still ‘came home’ every ABA. It was still important enough that, even if many of were finishing college years, we found the time to attend the yearly event..
ABA 2001 may have also held a special place in people’s hearts because it was the final time that innocence prevailed prior to terror attacks that would occur in the United States only 9 days later..
In 2001, then Ashland Mayor Rose Marie Noon said that young volunteers that year allowed the parade to march again. But even at that time, things were still shaky.. While the parade would survive a several more years, it got smaller and smaller.. less people attended .. people died away.. and the rest was history. Literally.
In perusing an old fishwrapper article printed in the Pottsville REPUBLICAN HERALD on September 4, 2001, this section caught my eye:
“Gina M. Laspina, a parade organizer from Gordon, said she thought the 2001 parade was one of the best in her memory.”
One note was that parade string band members were not getting any younger.. neither were residents..
Kay Constanza from Minersville was quoted that year saying this,
“It’s a nice time of year to watch a parade,” she said under the moonlit sky as temperatures hovered near 60. “I hope they continue it.”
It was that beautiful of a night.
The ABA parade in 2001 remains one of my most memorable.. the most important.. and quite honestly the last innocent moment a town could share–whether innocence was real or not.. that perceived innocence was robbed from America days later.
The ABA parade died with America’s changing ideals and stresses..
