WESTPORT–Herb Podel, the 101-year-old Grand Marshal of Westport’s Memorial Day celebration tomorrow, remembers the first parade he watched as a child. That celebratory procession also featured veterans – some from the Civil War.

His father served in the Great War, which would later be known as World War I. During World War II, Podel served as a Seabee – a member of the U.S. Navy’s Construction Brigade.

He was training to take part in an invasion of Japan – a mission he believes could have been his last – when the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.

“When the bomb was dropped, that changed the whole picture,” Podel said. “That’s why I’m here today, probably.”

Memorial Day, he said, helps people appreciate the sacrifices the men and women of the military have made throughout history.

“They’re reminded of it on this holiday,” he said  recently in The Residence on Post Road East, where he lives.

Due to the expectation of inclement weather, tomorrow’s parade has been cancelled. Podel is scheduled to speak at the Memorial Day services, in the Town Hall auditorium at 10 a.m. The theme this year is “250 Years of Honor and Service” in recognition of the nation’s 250^th anniversary.

A Westport resident since 1965, Podel has contributed to the community over the decades, the town Parks and Recreation Department said in announcing his selection as grand marshal. He has “received two awards from the Town of Westport recognizing his volunteer service, served for many years as Board President of The Saugatuck Senior Cooperative, founded and facilitated the longtime Cultural Salon discussion group in Westport, and held numerous volunteer roles at Temple Israel,” the parks department said.

He has two daughters, Alison Bricken and Jacqueline Podel, and was the self-employed owner and manufacturer of recreation equipment for many years, the department said.

He is a regular at the Westport Center for Senior Activities.

“Herb is a remarkable person who continues to inspire everyone around him,” said senior center Director Wendy Petty. “He takes a full course load here, always learning and contributing every chance he gets. For me, he always brings light and joy when he walks through the doors, he is always smiling.”

Patty Kondub, who teaches two of the classes Podel takes – “Brain Fitness” and “Mind and Muscle” – recommended him for the grand marshal position.

“He is an example of the men and women who entered the military in a time of war to serve and keep our country (as well as the world) free,” Kondub said. “And he returned home safely and alive, and contributed to society in the most productive way.”

Phil Delgado, quartermaster of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 399 and a member of the town veterans’ committee, said Kondub recommended Podel for the grand marshal honor. 

“We just want to give him the recognition he deserves as a member of our Greatest Generation,” Delgado said. 

For the Memorial Day ceremony, Podel has prepared to share his formula for longevity, which, in addition to exercise and eating right, centers on a positive attitude.

“We could change the world if so many could express the single motivations we all know,” he wrote in a draft of his speech. “Love thy neighbor as thyself, think broadly and unselfishly.”

He also has a charge for Americans.

His other secret: “Keep busy. Keep active.”

And he does. When the senior center announces its classes every three months, Podel signs up for eight activities, including exercise, writing and current events. He is also in a book discussion group, reading “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, he said..

For seven or eight years, Podel ran a “cultural salon” in Westport, where people met to hear from guest presenters such as a jazz musician, a Xerox executive and a Korean cultural group, he said. The salon’s mailing list grew to about 150 people, with 30 to 40 showing up for each talk, but ended with the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Kondub called Podel the most upbeat and positive person she has ever met, including the thousands she has gotten to know in 44 years of teaching classes at the Westport Weston Family YMCA and the Westport Center for Senior Activities.

“Everyone should have a positive human being in their life like Herb Podell!” she said.