With Memorial Day fast-approaching, the Niles American Legion Post 26 is gathering veterans, their families and community members to walk with them in the Memorial Day Parade Monday.

The American Legion is aiming to renew community appreciation and interest  in the parade, which will take place in downtown Niles. Residents and non-member veterans are welcome to join the parade. Through recent years, membership and community involvement have fallen and members of the Legion would like to restore some of their place in the community.

“They need the community support to show exactly what the American Legion is to Niles,” Odie Stewart, U.S. Army veteran, said.

The parade, which begins line-up at 9 a.m. Memorial Day, will step-off at 10 a.m. Stewart said that if it weren’t for the veterans, Memorial Day parades wouldn’t exist, which is why it’s important the community continue to show its support.

“The folks at the Legion are, in fact, an essence of what a veteran is all about,” Stewart said.

There is no fee to join the American Legion for the parade; it is simply to show support and unity, Stewart said.

“It’s a humbling factor that this needs to be asked, but it is one of necessity,” Stewart said.