Melissa Jarboe created the Salute Our Heroes Festival and Topeka Veterans Parade five years ago in recognition of all veterans, including her late husband, Jamie Jarboe.
Jarboe lost her 27-year-old husband in 2012 and established the events with life insurance money she received after he died due to complications from a bullet wound that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Her husband was serving his third tour in Afghanistan when he was shot by a sniper April 10, 2011.
The festival and parade, established under the founding charity of Military Veteran Project, will be Nov. 11 at the Capitol and in downtown Topeka.
The nonprofit Military Veteran Project is dedicated to the prevention of military suicide.
Jarboe, CEO of the project, hopes the community will come out and show support for veterans in Topeka.
“I can’t wait to see a couple of little kids in their cute little fatigues,” she said.
Q: What types of activities will be included?
Jarboe: We are going to kick off the event at 8 a.m. with a Patriotic Pancake Feed, and this is kind of a way for our community to pay it forward to our veterans without saying a word. Tickets are $7 in advance and $8 the day of the event at HHB BBQ. Veterans eat for free with the purchase of a ticket by a non-military individual. Half of that ticket goes toward paying for a veteran’s breakfast when they come that morning.
The Super Hero Fun Run will be 9:30 a.m. at the Harry W. Colmery Memorial Park, with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. Cost is $10 per person and $250 for a corporate team.
The Topeka Veterans Parade will be at 11 a.m. downtown. Staging begins at 9 a.m. We have the Washburn University Band coming out.
We have a lot of the high school bands participating. There will also be food trucks, a car and bike show, and live music. The festival ends at 2 p.m.
Q: What are the parade details?
Jarboe: Pre-registration and registration for parade participants (open to everyone to march in parade and you can register morning of event) begins at 9 a.m. Enter at 6th and Harrison. Remember to decorate the float or parade entry in Patriotic Red, White and Blue Colors. Spectators: line the streets of Kansas Ave. from 10th st to 8th St. and 10th St. from Kansas to Harrison.
Q: Are there any individuals being recognized?
Jarboe: Our grand marshal this year is the president of Washburn University, Jerry Farley, and his wife, Susan. Hundreds of veterans will be recognized, and participants in the parade will be announced and recognized from the grand stand. Registration cards will be filled out and read. It’s free to participate in the parade.
Q: How many years have the festival and parade been going on in Topeka?
Jarboe: This is the fifth year. It wouldn’t be possible without businesses, organizations and volunteers donating their time and money. A lot of our veterans are in this parade. We really need the community to come out, and support this event and our veterans.
Q: How many volunteers help with the event?
Jarboe: It takes a village to do a parade. I’d say we’re going to top out at about 150 volunteers, if not more.
Q: How many people usually attend?
Jarboe: It’s been anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000. This is a community event. We could put on a parade, we could put on a festival, we could honor veterans ’til we turn blue in the face, but it has to be a community-supported event.
The community has to come out, and recognize and support it for it to keep going.
Q: Where do the proceeds go?
Jarboe: Funds go back to MVP suicide prevention. So, with us doing the festival and the parade, you know what you’re looking at — there is the mobilization of public support. So, we’re looking at connecting veterans to resources through those vendors. We’re also looking at partnering veterans with other veterans for peer-to-peer support and then just overall partnerships.
Q: What does this event mean to you personally?
Jarboe: When I first started it, it meant … it was probably the way I grieved for my husband, honestly. I needed to see veterans. I needed to feel patriotism at its peak and at its highest in Topeka because this was my home.
So … at first, it fulfilled me and it helped me grieve, and it helped me overcome my grief for the loss of my husband.
As years progressed, it more felt like my grieving process was over and then it became pride. It became something I could see people coming and being a part of it … it was an event that so many people wanted to be involved in and help move forward.
It gave me a sense of pride, and a sense of worth and value in our community to see everybody unite for one day for the greater good. It was something bigger than themselves. It was something better than themselves.
Contact features writer Jessica Cole at (785) 295-5628.
