The Associated Press

IRONTON, Ohio - The Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day parade will roll through town Monday for the 136th consecutive year.

The parade is the oldest continuing Memorial Day observance in the country, parade organizers said. An Ohio Historical Society marker will be erected today.

"We have never missed a year," said Jim Adkins, grand marshal in 1993 and spokesman for the parade planning committee.

Ironton held its first parade in 1868, the same year the Grand Army of the Republic established May 30 as a day of remembering fallen comrades.

The early parades in Ironton were small, and featured 40 yokes of oxen, Adkins said.

In the 1950s, all schoolchildren were expected to march, holding flowers in one hand and waving a handkerchief or flag. After the parade, they were given report cards.

This year's parade - with a theme of "One Nation Under God" - is expected to have more than 3,000 marchers - including high school bands, 4-H clubs, beauty queens and Smokey Bear, the forest fire prevention mascot.

Organizers expected 50,000 people to watch the parade, the mayor's office said. Ironton has a population of about 11,500.

"We honor the veterans. We have no political advertisements, and no commercial advertisements are allowed in the parade," Adkins said