BACK IN THE 1920s, November 11 was celebrated as Armistice Day, a day of remembrance for American service members who died in the Great War/World War I. Parades played a major role in the observance, and DeLand loved parades.

The 1926 remembrance, planned by members of American Legion Post 6 and the DeLand Elks Lodge, featured a full day of events, beginning with a downtown parade, a program in the City Park, a football game at Cummings Field between DeLand and Orlando high schools, an afternoon celebration sponsored by the police and firefighters at the Volusia County Fairgrounds and a closing program in the evening at the Elks Lodge. Stores, offices, and public buildings closed for the observance.

The Elks Band, directed by Pops Bushnell, and uniformed Legionnaires led the procession from the new Elks Lodge on South Clara, up Howry to South Woodland Boulevard, then north to West Minnesota Avenue and back down Florida Avenue to the City Park on West Indiana. Judge W.W. Wright, of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, was the featured speaker. 

– SOURCE for WVHS post: DELAND DAILY NEWS, Nov. 9, 1926. The photo of the 1926 parade is from the Dreggors Collection in the WVHS Archives.