Upcoming: Veterans Day Parade and Car Show

The 15th annual Cruizin’ E Street Veterans Day Parade and Car Show will be held Saturday, Nov. 8. Activities take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are free to the public. The event includes a parade, a classic car show, exhibits and demonstrations, museum tours, musical entertainment, and food and merchandise vendors. The parade includes marching bands, vintage military vehicles, military marching units, classic cars and more. The Grand Marshall is Sgt. Pete Martinez, a Korean War combat veteran. Highlights of the parade are the beautifully restored military vehicles courtesy of the Inland Empire Military Vehicles Preservation Association. The parade starts at 10 a.m. at San Bernardino High School, located at 1850 N. E St., and proceeds south on E Street, ending up at the site of the original McDonald’s located at 1398 N. E. Street in San Bernardino. There are two museums on the property: the Inland Empire Military Museum and the unofficial McDonald’s/Route 66 Museum. Veteran organizations in the parade include The Catholic War Veterans Post 762, IE Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 47, Military Order of the Purple Heart and other VFW and American Legion Posts in the area. Following the parade, Veterans from all branches of the service who are present at Cruizin’ E will be honored. The Cruizin’ E Street Veterans Day Parade and Car Show, hosted by the E Street Cruizers’ Car Club and the Inland Empire Military Museum, is presented by the San Bernardino-based Juan Pollo restaurant chain established and operated by Albert Okura. The artists who are painting the murals on the outside of the McDonald’s museum will also be in the parade. Phil Yeh, often called the Godfather of the modern American Graphic Novel, has painted a new mural celebrating San Bernardino County on the north wall of the Route 66 museum. Rory Murray has been adding classic cars from movies and films to this mural. Beth Winokur has added incredibly detailed railroad cars and Jan Windhausen has painted the natural flora of the desert on the wall. Guest artists Gaby Maya, from Mexico City, recently came and drew her character Gaby Cat on the mural and Mark Nelson, from Texas, came out and drew a lizard in a hot air balloon earlier in the year. Inland Empire photographer Allen Freeman recently came out to do a photo shoot at the site complete with models and classic cars. Since 1985, Yeh and “Cartoonists Across America & The World” have painted more than 1,800 colorful cartoon murals promoting literacy, creativity and the arts in 49 U.S. states and 15 foreign countries. These murals have covered school, library, and community walls as well as being painted on portable lightweight form core board, city buses, bookmobiles, and billboards all around the world. “Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, was the very first cartoonist to endorse our tour in 1985. He believed that the power of humor could really increase our literacy rate. Last year, we got permission from his widow, Jeannie, to paint Spike, Snoopy’s brother, on the right side of the north wall in Needles. Schulz lived in this Route 66 town as a child briefly and paid tribute to it in his comic strip,” said Yeh from his Running Springs studio. “The whole project started when I painted a POW-MIA logo on the Inland Empire Military Museum three years ago sponsored by my friend Jim Valdez, a veteran himself. Since both this museum and the McDonald’s Museum are owned by Albert Okura, we got to talking about painting a more detailed work of art on the side of his building. Something that truly celebrates the many accomplishments that took place in this city,” said Yeh. “The south wall highlighted the magnificent California Theater and the Norton Air Force Base which was directed by Colonel Paul Green, (USAF ret.), one of the Tuskegee Airmen. In addition, many local people including actor Gene Hackman, who attended San Bernardino High; Dorothy Inghram, local educator and the first African American Superintendent in the State of California; Chester Carlson, who invented the technology behind the Xerox machine; Will Rogers, who had his very last appearance at the California Theater; and many more,” continued Yeh. “For the north side, I wanted to create a fun visual image of the entire county, the largest county in the United States. We feature cars, a train, and trucks on this side; but the real highlight is all the motorcycles on Route 66. I wanted to pay tribute to my friend, the late Hal Robinson, who was a cartoonist for Easyriders magazine in the 1970s and 80s. Hal inspired my cartoon career and also is the reason I started riding bikes back in college.” These two detailed 100-foot murals were painted in almost three years and the work is still going. Yeh, who founded Cartoonists Across America and the World in 1985, is on the 29th year of his 40-year world tour. Yeh also speaks to students of all ages. To see more of his tour and books go to www.wingedtiger.com. For more information about the parade contact Mario at 909-885-3058. Sponsors for the San Bernardino County side include Loma Linda University Health, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Mattel Toys, Ontario Airport, Wigwam Motel, Mill Creek Cattle Co., Two Guys Pizza and Pasta, Dale Brothers Brewery, Redlands Paint Company, San Bernardino Paint Company, Sherwin Williams Paint Company, Speedball Art Supplies, and Country Inn & Suites in Redlands.