Parade For Casper WWII Veteran Scheduled For Saturday Afternoon
A Casper resident and World War II veteran, Leon Ridenour, is celebrating his 96th birthday tomorrow (December 5th, 2020), and you can help be a part of it. Mr. Ridenour is a former greeter at Walmart, but he is currently quarantined. His church, Grace Lutheran Church, is doing a drive by parade scheduled for 12:30 pm tomorrow to help lift his spirits.
We spoke with his nephew, Rick Ridenour, who is currently quarantined with him. Rick stated:
My uncle Leon Ridenour (pronounced "ride n’ our"), moved to Casper in the early 60’s. He has lived in the same house since. He was an employee of Marathon Oil until his retirement. Then he went to work for Walmart in early 2000. He worked as a greeter at the west Walmart until he was 93. Now he enjoys just doing whatever he wants!
Leon is a WWII veteran where he was stationed in Italy and Ethiopia with the Air Force as a radio operator during the war.Leon was a huge car person for decades and still has numerous vintage cars and trucks. Including a 1929 Chevy he drove when he was attending school at the University of Nebraska.
This all came together (the parade) rather suddenly. His church, Grace Lutheran, wanted to do something special for him. We had planned all this for church on Sunday. Then we were exposed to the coronavirus by an in-home healthcare worker, so we are in quarantine until Monday. His church decided to do a drive by parade.
During the planning I thought well, we’ve got some friends who might want to join in. So I put it on Facebook. Wow!!! It has just blown up! Over 475 likes and over a 100 comments. I didn’t realize he was so famous and had so many people that he really touched!
The parade is tomorrow (Saturday, December 5th). We are asking people to line up south of 17th Street on Fenway at 12:15 pm behind a yellow VW (Volkswagen). The parade is scheduled to start at 12:30 pm, going north on Fenway. Leon will be outside on his porch! We ask that people leave cards at least 6-feet from the porch.
I can’t thank everyone for their support and hope they will tune in as I’ll do Facebook live during the parade!! Leon has no idea this is going on. And it’s turning out to be something I never could have dreamed of for him. It’s going to be a special 96th birthday. This is why we live in Casper!!
This is an awesome event for Casperites to come and show their support to one of our own.
- WHEN: Saturday, December 5th, 2020
- WHERE: Line up south of 17th Street on Fenway at 12:15 pm behind a yellow VW
- FOR: Birthday of former Walmart greeter and WWII Veteran, Leon Ridenour
We hope to see everyone out tomorrow!