Falls Church Memorial Day Festival and Parade, Monday, May 26, 9 a.m. on, Parade at 1 p.m.

OK, I am not going to recommend this every year, but if you haven’t gotten in the habit of attending this, you are missing our very own slice of Americana. Norman Rockwell would have a field day at this event, if not at the Don Beyer Volvo Fun Run that kicks things off at 9 a.m., then at the Falls Church Animal Hospital’s pet and owner costume contest at 10:30 a.m. He’d love to hang out at the News-Press booth to capture entrants into the annual Wacky Hat contest, or see kids carry bags of canned and non-perishable goods for the News-Press and Diener and Associates’ annual food drive. Then there are the proud veterans, standing reverent, tall and uniformed, during the memorial ceremony in front of City Hall at 11 a.m. There are the bands on the bandstand, all the cotton candy and, of course, the parade itself, which this year features Falls Church resident Pete Geren, the Secretary of the U.S. Army.