Parsippany Will Salute Veterans at Festival

Parsippany-Troy Hills will hold a special tribute for our nation's veterans with a festival to support the nonprofit NJ Fallen Soldiers and Operation Chill Out.

“Salute to our Vets” will be held on July 13 and July 14 at Veterans Memorial park, located at 1839 Rt. 46 E in Parsippany. The event will run from noon to 7 p.m. each day.

There will be a $10 admission for adults and $5 for children. Children under 7 and disabled veterans can attend for free.

“The First 100 people in the gate on both days will receive a gift bag filled with goodies,” said the offie of Mayor James Barberio. “You will have dozens of opportunities to win prizes and give-a-ways including Family Fun Packs or Children’s Fun Packs.”

The festival will feature Frank Basile, a renowned opera singer, who will perform the national anthem on Saturday before mingling for a meet and greet.

"We are thrilled that Mr. Basile has offered to do this for us,” said Sandy Mitchell of the Spirit of the Arts Foundation.

“Frank Basile is a bass who's as comfortable on the grand opera stage and cabaret alike,” she said. “Opera News declared him to be 'a cross between Giorgio Tozzi and Ezio Pinza' and 'a voice to follow.'”

The event will have 14 bands, 14 bands performing live music, games, arts and crafts, plenty of food and more than 40 vendors, including free support groups for veterans.

Retired NFL player Roman Dissake Oben will also be attending for the meet and greet on Saturday. Oben played in college for the University of Louisville before being drafted by the New York Giants in 1996.

Oben spent 12 years as an offensive tackle in the National Football League playing for the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Diego Chargers and was a starting offensive lineman on the Buccaneers Super Bowl XXXVII Championship team. He now hosts shows on MSG and CBS.

Salute to our Vets is sponsored by the office of the Mayor of Parsippany, Extreme Energy Solutions of Ogdensburg, NJ, Graphic Images of Budd Lake and produced by Spirit of the Arts Foundation.