Scott Swanson
When Al Severson turns on the microphone to begin his patter for the 66th annual Albany Veterans Day Parade on Saturday, Nov. 11, it will be his 45th year of involvement in the event.
“I’m the old-timer,” he said.
He’ll announce the entries as they pass the reviewing stand on 2nd Avenue in Downtown Albany, something he’s done since he got active in the parade back in the mid-1960s, when his bosses, Dan B. and Larry Roth, owners of Roth’s Furniture store in Sweet Home, were big supporters of the event.
Now Severson, 67, and owner of Al’s Frame Shop in Downtown Albany, plays a big part of putting the event, the largest Veteran’s Day parade west of the Mississippi, together each year. He’s currently vice president of the Veterans Commemoration Association, which stages the event. He also chairs the annual Veteran of the Year Banquet, held the night before Veterans Day at the American Legion Post in Lebanon, which honors the individual(s) selected as Veteran of the Year.
Severson said he loves the interaction the parade provides him with veterans.
“Meeting and greeting all these people, being able to talk to all these veterans. You hear some real interesting stories. You hear some of these stories and you think, ‘How in the world did that guy ever get back alive?’
The Albany Veterans Day Parade was founded in 1951 by a group led by local ex-Marine named Jim Barrett. It is one of 54 sanctioned Veterans Day events recognized by the Veterans Day National Committee, which qualifies it for what has become an annual flyover by military jets.
The parade is one of the reasons why Linn County has been designated as the “Most Patriotic County in the Nation,” Severson said.
He is one of Sweet Home’s strongest ties to the parade.
Severson was born at Langmack Hospital, at the corner of Highway 228 and Main Street, in 1951 and was raised in Sweet Home, graduating from Sweet Home High School in 1970. His dad Orvin was a millworker and farmer in the area, he said. Orvin also worked at auctions, which became a big part of Al’s life.
Al learned auctioneer skills from the Roths and still works in that capacity today, he said.
“I was 13 when I went to work for Dan B. on Saturdays at the auctions,” he said. “That’s where I learned to be an auctioneer. He paid me $3.50 a day. That was a lot of money.”
Severson served in the Army from 1970 to 78, mostly at Fort Polk, La. – “a hell hole” – and in Alaska.
“I never made it to’ Nam,” he said. “I came close, but was always able to dodge the bullet. I shouldn’t say it, but I had a pretty easy gig, considering what a lot of those guys did.”
Severson said when he was young Sweet Home High School entered a float and its band marched in the parade each year.
“I’d love to see that happen again,” he said.
The Roths were his main connection early on, though.
“The Roth family used to help raise money for veterans causes,” he said. “(Dan B.) was one of the main guys who was the head of the Veterans Day (activities) back then,” Severson recalled. “He was the head announcer and his son Larry was a pilot in World War II. So they were real involved. They were the backbone of the parade.
“When it got to be Veterans Day, he’d just hand you a list and say, ‘That’s what you’ve got to do.’ You didn’t question it. You just did it.
“I’ve just basically stayed involved over the years, in one capacity or another.”
The parade has progressed over the years, he said.
“We’re still doing it on the same corner when I started,” he said. “But back then, when I started announcing the parade, we didn’t have a covered stage and all that. We had painter’s scaffolding. We’d put it up on Saturday morning at 6 a.m., we’d start assembling this painter’s scaffolding and hoisting up tables and chairs. We’d put tarps over it.
“It’s a wonder nobody ever got killed. I’ve seen the time, when it was windy and blowing, I’ve seen folding chairs go blowing off of there.
“Now we’ve got a real nice covered trailer that the Air Force brings in. We set it up and we’ve got a deck, stage, heat, lights. We’re in luxury now.”
Today’s parade is led by 400-some Patriot Guard motorcyclists, who thunder off the Pacific Boulevard overpass onto Lyon Street, followed by 200-plus entries – military color guards, distinguished veterans, school bands, classic cars, Scout troops, and more in front of viewers whose numbers are generally estimated at 40,000.
Over the years, the parade has played host to plenty of VIPs, Severson said – astronauts and “lots of big generals and colonels.”
He says his most memorable moment was in the late 1970s – he couldn’t recall the exact year – when then Gov. Ronald Reagan of California and Oregon Gov. Tom McCall rode side by side in the parade.
“Tom McCall had the Oregon flag on his horse and Gov. Reagan had the U.S. flag on his horse.
“I remember saying (over the microphone) that Ronald Reagan was governor of California and we were very honored to have him here to ride with our great Gov. Tom McCall,” Severson said, slowing his words a bit as he recalled the moment. “After the parade I got to shake Reagan’s hand.
“That was a big name.”
“Knock on wood,” he said, the parade goes off smoothly, remarkably well – other than an occasional disabled vehicle.
“You get better equipment from the military,” he said. “Vehicles break down, but in 65 years we’ve never had a catastrophe.”
This year’s focus is on women who have served in the military.
“I haven’t gotten to meet and talk to a lot of them yet,” he said. “After the parade, it’s always fun to find out where these guys go to congregate and sit around and talk. Just sitting around and listening. You feel honored to be sitting around them, you know. The sad part is that so many are passing on.”
Members of the younger generations are showing interest in getting involved, he said, but Severson said they need more.
“We’ve got to recruit more people beyond the committee and start getting them trained because, well, the committee, we’re all older.”
One newcomer is Debi Starr, a KLOO-FM 106.3 radio deejay, who got involved four years ago as a parade announcer.
“She is the first female to ever help announce this parade,” he said. “It used to be the same bunch of us and I’m the last one left. I was the youngster of the crowd then.
“They all taught me how to do it and I’ve just kind of carried the torch on.”