San Jose’s Veterans Day parade just needs a downtown audience Monday

How about we not let the weather rain on San Jose’s downtown Veterans Day parade Monday?Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Stephen Hager, a native of Mountain View and a graduate of Santa Clara University, will serve as grand marshal of the Veterans Day parade in downtown San Jose on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo courtesy U.S. Army) 
Yes, there is a chance of rain forecast during the parade, but the veterans taking part in the 106th annual celebration in downtown San Jose would likely tell you they’ve endured a lot worse. And given the monumental effort from a number of companies, civic organizations and individuals — elected or not — to make sure the parade happened at all this year, it would be sad to not have a good crowd lining downtown’s streets, even with umbrellas.
This year’s grand marshal is retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Stephen Hager, a native of Mountain View and a Santa Clara University alum who graduated with a degree in mathematics. So yeah, he’s a Silicon Valley guy.
Hager finished his 35-year military career as deputy commanding general for operations, Cyber National Mission Force and mobilization assistant to the commander for USCYBERCOM. He served overseas in Operation Desert Storm as well as assignments in Afghanistan and Kuwait, earning several honors including the Distinguished Service Medal and the Bronze Star.
Following tradition, the event will start at 11 a.m. with a ceremony at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, and the parade kicking off at noon from around SAP Center and traveling along Santa Clara Street to Market Street, where it’ll turn south to finish at San Carlos Street.
I’ll be out there, too, helping announce units with Mike Hennessy — one of the many people who rushed to help Ray Watts and the Military Officers Association of America keep the parade afloat this year. More information is available at www.sjveteransparade.org.
MORE SALUTES TO VETS: We’ve got veterans all around the Santa Clara Valley, so there are other events happening Monday, too.
• John Swensson, who has long been stewarding Cupertino’s Veterans Day celebration, let me know that this year’s 11 a.m. event at the Cupertino Veterans Memorial will honor women in the military. And he’s had no problem finding female military members to participate, including U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Tracy L. Smith, commanding general of the 63rd Readiness Division, who’ll provide the keynote address.
The event also will honor women from the 129th Air Rescue Squadron at Moffett Field, as well as Capt. Diane Carlson Evans, a U.S. Army nurse who served in Vietnam and founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation, and former Cupertino Mayor Sandy James, who was co-founder of the Cupertino Veterans Memorial.
The memorial pays tribute to the 19 special ops soldiers and Navy SEALS killed during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan in 2005, including Cupertino residents Matt Axelson and James Suh. You can find out more about it at www.cupertinoveteransmemorial.org.
• The communities of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills are getting together for their annual Veterans Day Celebration, which will include refreshments, music and speakers at the Los Altos Veterans Community Plaza, starting at 2 p.m. If you’re going to that one, consider bringing a donation of canned food, underwear or socks, which will be collected by the Community Services Agency.
• The Campbell Veterans Memorial Foundation will have an event Monday starting at 9 a.m. at Orchard City Green and will follow that up with a gala fundraiser on Nov. 16 at West Valley College.
CULTURAL CONNECTION: Seven active duty members of the Ukrainian military who were musicians before the war started in 2022 have been on a goodwill tour of the West Coast and will perform in downtown San Jose on Nov. 17.
Cultural Forces Ukraine will have a free concert that evening at 5 p.m. at the SJZ Break Room, presenting a wide variety of music including Ukrainian and world classics to pop covers and even country music, courtesy of singer Sasha Boole. The eclectic band includes a poet, an opera singer, a violinist, a pianist and two people who play the bandura, Ukraine’s traditional 62-string instrument that looks a bit like an oversize lute.
It’s great to see this tour, which includes stops at Stanford University and UC Berkeley on Nov. 14, including San Jose Jazz in its itinerary since the organization has highlighted Ukraine’s musical culture at both Winter Fest and Summer Fest in 2023. Get more information on the show at 310 S. First St. at www.sanjosejazz.org.
DRINKING LIKE A FISH: The hottest new souvenir at the Shark Tank isn’t a jersey or a hat — it’s a beer “cup” that’s nearly 2-feet long and shaped like a miniature hockey stick. It holds about 24-ounces of beer or whatever beverage you put in it at home, and you have to hold it at arm’s length to drink it properly.
Lots of folks were walking out of SAP Center with theirs after Thursday night’s 5-2 loss to Minnesota, but that’s not the only novelty beverage vessel being sold this season: You can also get a plastic pouch filled with a frozen drink that you hang around your neck and sip through a long straw. At least it keeps your hands free when it’s time to do “The Chomp.”
The Italian Cellar speakeasy bar in Little Italy, just a short walk away from the Tank, are serving up a special “Sharks Cele-tini” for fans this season in honor of rookie Macklin Celebrini. It’s a gin drink that gets its cool hue from blue curacao, and it’s only got one problem: Its namesake is only 18, so he can’t even order one. I’m sure Joshua DeVincenzi Melander, the president of Little Italy San Jose, will have one ready for him in June 2027.