LYNN – The Lynn Veterans Council is preparing for its 2026 North Shore Veterans and First Responders Day Parade by having a fundraiser at Giggles Comedy Club.
The event will take place at the comedy venue in Prince Pizzeria in Saugus on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $30, which includes bottomless pizza. There will also be a chance to enter a raffle for a week-long trip to Aruba, sponsored by Lynn Veterans Council member Al DiVirgilio.
Three professional comedians will be performing at the fundraiser, but their names are being kept under wraps until the day of the event. The comedians typically perform standup around current events, and often get the audience involved in their routines.
“They’re unbelievably good,” said Lynn Veterans Council Secretary Ken Oswald. “Prince Pizzeria has a good reputation for doing great comedy events. They’ve been doing this for years.”
The Veterans Council has been preparing for the 2026 North Shore Veterans and First Responders Day Parade since last year, as Oswald projects that the council will need to raise approximately $100,000 for the event. However, the event at Giggles Comedy Club has no specific target amount when it comes to fundraising.
“There’s no pressure. It’s a win-win situation, because people get to go out, enjoy themselves, relax, while we get money for the parade. Whatever we make from it, we make,” Oswald said.
Next year’s North Shore Veterans and First Responders Day Parade will take place on Sunday, Sept. 20, a date close to the 25th anniversary of 9/11. First responders are being honored in the parade, as they were the first people on scene during the attacks.
“This parade is not for the Veteran’s Council. It’s for the city of Lynn, and the whole North Shore. We want to celebrate everybody,” said Veterans Council President Wayne Johnson.
Council members also explained why a standup comedy is an enticing way to collect donations for the parade.
“We decided to come up with an idea for a fundraiser that’s different from what’s normally been done, and people like to laugh,” Oswald said.
“A lot of the things that veterans have gone through is very heavy, and it’s a good thing to have a more lighthearted event where people laugh and get away from that for a minute,” Johnson said.
For tickets to the Giggles Comedy Club Fundraiser, call Wayne Johnson at (781) 462-8888, or email [email protected].
