Dean waving to his birthday parade participants.

 

Drive-by birthday parade for 101-year-old World War II veteran

Blue Ash, OH

The day arrived and questions were asked. Will the weather cooperate? They were calling for snow and cold. Who and how many will come? We had no idea, but a dozen vehicles would be nice. Would the TV folks show up? They all had been told about it. Would there be any last-minute problems that would put the kibosh on the whole thing? There was no way of knowing. So how did Dean Giacometti’s drive-by birthday parade turn out? Thankfully, it all worked out well and everyone had a great time.
The snow held off; around 40 vehicles participated; Channel 19 sent out a crew to videotape the whole parade; there were no problems. There were cars, vans, pickup trucks, SUVs, police cars, fire trucks, EMT vehicles and a golf cart. There were American Legion veterans, VFW veterans, Korean War veterans, DAV veterans, Walnut Hills High School alumni, former students Dean taught, staff and maintenance members from Dean’s apartment complex, and Congressman Brad Wenstrup. It was just absolutely fantastic!
And of course, sitting in his chair in front of his apartment building was the birthday boy himself! Dean was less than 20 feet away from the procession passing by before him. He saw banners, balloons, signs and flashing lights. Some vehicles stopped and wished him happy birthday; a Blue Ash police officer got out of his car and saluted Dean; many participants were waving signs as well as their hands. Dean took it all in with the biggest of smiles. He was thoroughly enjoying himself and pleased with everything he was seeing. It was a great event for a great man!


Dean Giacometti waving to the paradegoers on his 101st birthday.
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