The 65th Annual William H. Norton Memorial Day Parade and 18th Annual Memorial Day Weekend Car, Truck and Tractor Show will be held Saturday, May 24 in Paw Paw.
The car show with food and craft vendors will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Paw Paw Schools, 60 Pirate Circle with Top 30 Car/Truck Show Trophies, Top 5 Tractor Show Trophies plus Best in Show and Longest Distance Trophies. There will be dash plaques and door prizes. There is a registration fee due on the day of the show. Spectators are free. A face painter and balloon artist will also be available for the children. 
At 10 a.m., a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at Woodrow Union Church Cemetery, 3336 Paw Paw Road.
Also, beginning at 10 a.m., special guests, the Tuscarora High School Jazz Ensemble directed by Kenzie Durgin will be playing in front of Paw Paw High School.
At 11 a.m., a memorial service will be held at the Veteran’s Monument at Paw Paw Town Square located at the intersection of Winchester Street and Henry W. Miller Highway.
Paw Paw’s Memorial Day parade will begin at 1 p.m. and an awards ceremony will be held at Paw Paw Schools immediately following the parade.
Serving as the Grand Marshals of the parade this year are Army veterans Tracy Arnott and Cody Covey.
Tracy Arnott
Tracy Arnott was born June 5, 1999, and is originally from Romney, West Virginia where he grew up and graduated from Hampshire High School in 2017.
Following high school graduation, he worked various jobs such as security officer, tree trimmer, and line lead factory worker. It was during this period of time that he attended the Paw Paw Memorial Day Weekend Parade and witnessed the speech given by Cody Covey at the Paw Paw Veterans Monument in May of 2019 that inspired him to join the U.S. Army.
After the speech concluded, he approached Cody Covey who he knew casually before the speech and inquired about military service, and it was Covey that suggested that he enlist in the U.S. Army if he was serious about military service.
Covey then helped prepare Arnott for U.S. Army Basic Combat Training, focusing on physical training, general Army knowledge and military courtesies.
In 2020, Arnott enlisted in the U.S. Army and attended Basic Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Benning, Ga. (now Fort Moore). He graduated in October of 2020 and was assigned to the historic and infamous 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. (now Fort Liberty) as part of a special Soldier Vehicle Assessment (SVA) that experimented the implementation of new variant light-armor tanks to be re-utilized back into Infantry Brigade Combat Teams.
After successful completion of his mission at Fort Bragg, Arnott was reassigned to Fort Bliss, Texas where he was stationed until 2024.
He was then reassigned back to Fort Moore, Ga., and was promoted to the grade/rank of E-5/Sergeant. The promotion was special for Arnott as it was 20 years to the day that his mentor and friend Covey was promoted to the same grade/rank.
In addition to his regular duties at Fort Moore, Ga., Sergeant Arnott was selected to be part of the 39th President of the Unites States Jimmy Carter’s Funeral Detail in Plains, Ga.
Sergeant Arnott’s list of military awards include: Two Army Commendation medals, the Army Achievement Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Army Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Medal.
Sergeant Arnott is also a holder of the prestigious Order of Saint George, knighted by the Armor and Cavalry Association for his dedication to the military armor and cavalry community. He is a Legionnaire Member of the American Legion Post 128 in Paw Paw, West Virginia.
Sergeant Arnott’s proudest accomplishment is being a husband to his wife, Haley Arnott, and a father to their 2-year-old, Laiken Kaye Arnott.
Cody Covey
Cody Covey was born January 22, 1983 and is the adopted son of Roy and Carolyn Covey. He is originally from Paw Paw, where he grew up and enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17. He attended Basic Combat Training (BCT) in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in the summer of 2000 where he graduated just before starting his senior year of high school at Paw Paw High School. Cody graduated from Paw Paw High School in 2001.
Upon graduation Cody continued his military career in the U.S. Army Reserve and attended Advanced Individual Training (AIT) to earn his Military Occupational Specialty (M.O.S) as a Heavy Equipment Repairer again at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in the late summer and early fall of 2001. He was on active duty in training during the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Covey continued to serve part-time in the U.S. Army Reserve and earned the rank of E-5 Sergeant while he worked other civilian jobs and attended professional wrestling school learning to become a professional wrestler. He had just started wrestling for various promotions along the East Coast when he was called to active duty with the 818th Maintenance Company in Fort Meade, Maryland to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom in September of 2004, where he would later mobilize out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He was deployed to Q-West, Iraq where he served as a Mechanic, Entry Control Point Security Guard, and later as the Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Non-Commissioned Officer In-Command for the entire Forward Operating Base working for the Mayor’s Cell of the base which was under the command of the U.S. Army Ohio National Guard 1st Battalion, 107th Cavalry Regiment at the time.
Covey returned home and was granted an Honorable Discharge from Active Duty along with the National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the Iraq Campaign Medal along with the title of “Combat Veteran” in December of 2005. He continued to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve until 2010.
Covey continued to work as a civilian for the Army as a Maintenance Worker for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District at Youghiogheny River Lake in Confluence, Pennsylvania while owning his own business “Covey Promotions LLC”.
He promoted events throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region and had a professional wrestling school and local television show called “Covey Pro Wrestling” that aired in the Greater Washington, D.C. Metro Area on WJAL TV out of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania on Dish Network and local cable providers Saturday nights from 2009 until he folded the promotion in 2016. That year, Covey took a position with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Cumberland, Maryland where he still works today.
In recent years, Covey utilized his Post 9/11 GI Bill and earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.
He has become a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 Licensed Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Pilot in addition to earning a Career Studies Certificate as a Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operator from Laurel Ridge Community College.
Covey has started another business, “Covey Air LLC” in which he performs aerial photography and videography services as a Drone Pilot.
In 2022, Cody was elected Commander of the American Legion Harley R. Bohrer Post 128 in his hometown of Paw Paw, West Virginia where he has served three consecutive terms along with his wife Penny Covey who is the Post Secretary, supporting local veterans and programs that support veterans of all of the Armed Forces of the United States and the American way of life as well as other programs and organizations within the local community.
