The Vermont city of Rutland is planning a "Parade of Heroes" and a number of other activities to mark the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In their first in-person meeting since March 2020, the Board of Alderman on Monday approved the parade for Aug. 28.
The board also approved two events in September, and a whoopie-pie festival in October.
"Back, probably before the holidays, we were all starved to be out with other people," said Lyle Jepson, executive director of Community and Economic Development for the Rutland Region. "We were fortunate enough to be able to stay home. A lot of people were not fortunate enough to be able to stay home."
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People working in health care, retail, education and similar fields, can sign up to participate in the parade. There will also be speeches, a free concert and fireworks.
The Rutland Herald reports the parade originally was planned to coincide with the whoopie-pie festival, but was moved up because Vermont's state of emergency, which expired June 15, ended earlier than expected.
The whoopie pie festival is scheduled for Oct. 9.
"The whoopie pie festival is just to have a blast," Jepson said. "It's 'whoopie, we're out of COVID.'"
