The One Copperopolis Holiday Event That Won't Move to a Weekend

"They now have the opportunity to have their parade, to receive the thanks that are long overdue," Al Gilbert, then commander of VFW Post 12118, told the Calaveras Enterprise in 2014. He was talking about veterans who came home from service and never got one.

That idea explains why the Copperopolis Veterans Day Parade runs on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m., whatever day of the week that turns out to be. In 2026 it's a Wednesday. Nearly everything else on the local holiday calendar now happens at the Town Square at Copper Valley and moves to whatever day works best. The parade moved to the Square too. Its date stays where it is.

The route through old town

For more than a decade, the parade belonged to historic Copperopolis. The James D. Piper VFW Post 12118 got its state VFW recognition on Feb. 19, 2012. By 2014 the post was holding its parade on Main Street in the old downtown for the third year. In those years it was paired with a public safety day at the Copperopolis Fire Department, with booths from the Copperopolis Fire Protection District, the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office, Cal Fire, the California Highway Patrol, the Red Cross and American Legion Ambulance. The Lake Tulloch Lions cooked hot dogs for donations that went to the post.

The Calaveras Enterprise's 2023 coverage describes the day at its most spread out. It started with a pancake breakfast at the Armory building. Then the parade went down Main Street, Reed's Turnpike and O'Byrnes Ferry Road. In the afternoon there was a chili feed at the Town Square at Copper Valley. Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio led the parade, followed by the post's color guard. Mel Ogg, a 101-year-old World War II Marine veteran, waved from a blue 1965 Shelby Cobra convertible. The Copperopolis Corvettes and the Sierra Angels Car Club brought classic cars, Copperopolis Elementary students rode on a float, and fire and emergency vehicles brought up the rear.

So one Saturday covered the whole town: breakfast on Main Street, a parade through the old crossroads and chili at the Square.

2025 brought the parade to the Square

In November 2025, The Pine Tree posted a location change. The VFW Post 12118 Veterans Day Parade had moved to the Town Square at Copper Valley, 100 Town Square Road. It started at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The notice gave no reason for the move.

The 2026 parade stays at the Square. The Calaveras Enterprise event listing quotes the post's invitation, "11/11 at 11 @ The Town Square at Copper Valley." Copper Valley's own calendar blocks out 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for "Veterans Parade in the Square." If you're going, 11 a.m. is the post's own start time, and the longer window on the Square's calendar gives you time to arrive and stay afterward.

The chili gets its own Saturday

Chili and the parade have been linked for years, and the timing explains why they now land on different days.

The 14th annual Copper Chili Cook-off was held on Nov. 11, 2023. Veterans Day was a Saturday that year, so the parade and the cook-off shared the day. The Town Square at Copper Valley presented it, 11 competitors entered, and all proceeds went to the Copperopolis Volunteer Fire Association. The Copper Hills 4-H Club won Judges' Choice and Ward Palmer won People's Choice. Jonestown Chili took both Best Toppings and Best Booth Décor, and Baldie's won Best Name.

In 2025, Veterans Day fell on a Tuesday. The parade stayed on the 11th, and the cook-off went to Saturday. myMotherLode's weekend roundup listed the Copperopolis Volunteer Fire Association's Chili Cookoff at the Town Square that Saturday. Tasting tickets went on sale at 11 a.m. and ran until they sold out, and there was a bounce house, prizes, awards and vendors.

The 2026 pattern is the same. Copper Valley lists the Copper Fire Chili Cook Off for Saturday, Nov. 14, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Town Square, three days after the parade. The listing doesn't give a ticket price or say how cooks sign up. An earlier Copper Valley promotion offered 10 tasting tickets for $20, with children under five free, but that's from a past year, so it may not match this November.

That makes two November visits to the Square. On Wednesday you're there for the veterans. On Saturday you're there for the fire association.

The rest of the season, by date

Most of the calendar runs at two places. Public gatherings are on the Town Square. Seated dinners and the race are at the Golf Club at Copper Valley on Saddle Creek Drive. One December market is back at the Armory on Main Street.

GoCalaveras lists the Turkey Trot for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, with the Golf Club at Copper Valley as organizer. If you're expecting a Thanksgiving morning race, check that date before you set an alarm. The Golf Club's main line on that listing is 209-753-0574.

The only December event back on Main Street is the Winter Bazaar at the Copperopolis Armory. It's listed with local makers, Santa photos, letters to Santa, holiday performances and free admission. The organizer is Welcome Home Maker's Market, and right now AllEvents is the only place it's listed, so check the day before you drive over.

The Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve dinner pages give the time and place but no menu or booking details yet.

The tree lighting moved too

The tree lighting has shifted more than any other event. In 2025, The Pine Tree announced the Copperopolis Town Square Christmas tree lighting for Saturday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. It was free and organized by Copperopolis Town Square. For 2026, Copper Valley's calendar lists Friday, Dec. 4, from 4 to 7 p.m. That's a Friday evening instead of a Saturday afternoon, and with sunset that early in December, the tree will most likely light up after dark.

GoCalaveras counts the Copperopolis Town Square Old Fashioned Holiday & Tree Lighting among the county's annual December events. An older Copper Valley page called "A Copper Christmas" describes a Dec. 4 lighting with a visit from Santa and Christmas activities. That page has no year on it, so check before you promise the kids Santa on the 4th.

If you want to be in the parade instead of watching it

Copperopolis's parade has always welcomed entries from the community. In 2014 the post invited anyone with a patriotic entry. For 2026, these are the steps:

1. Email VFW Post 12118 at [email protected] for parade details or to ask about joining.
2. Check the Copper VFW Post 12118 Facebook page, which last year's notice named as the place to find applications.
3. Plan around the 11 a.m. start on a Wednesday. Work schedules and school days are part of the planning this year in a way they weren't when the parade fell on a Saturday in 2023.

The Square is where Copperopolis gathers for the holidays now, and that suits a chili cook-off on a Saturday or a tree lighting on a Friday night. At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11, it steps off on the Square, the same date and hour VFW Post 12118 has used since it started on Main Street.

I'm Elly Bermudez, and if you're new to Copperopolis and want a neighbor's view of where to stand for the parade or which Square events fit your family's week, let's connect at Elly Bermudez. I'm happy to help in English or Spanish.