ELKINS — The HW Daniels Post 29 American Veterans Association will be holding several public events this weekend as part of its Veterans Day celebrations.
The annual Day of Remembrance, which honors all those who have served in the military, past or present, will take place on Saturday this year. That means federal employees will observe the holiday on the previous Friday. Many schools and businesses will also be closed for the holiday.
Post 29 activities begin Friday when the Veterans Day Parade is held in downtown Elkins. Participants will meet next to Southern States on South Davis Avenue at 11:30 a.m.
The parade will officially begin at 1 p.m. and will move north along Davis Avenue before turning onto Sixth Street and onto Railroad Avenue. The parade ends at the Elkins Railroad Depot/Welcome Center.
“The parade has been held for three years in a row and we strive to make it a regular event.” Donnie Lambert, commander of the 9th District American Legion, told the Intermountain newspaper on Tuesday. “I think we’re going to have some groups participating in the parade, some groups will be participating in the parade, but that doesn’t bother us either…I don’t know who will lead the parade. Hmm, probably. The West Virginia Highlanders have a color guard.”
The annual Veterans Day ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the All Veterans Memorial on the corner of Harrison Street and Railroad Street in Elkins. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be rescheduled to the American Legion.
“It would be great if we could hold the ceremony at the Cenotaph this year.” Lambert said. “For the past two years, we’ve had to move indoors because of the weather.”
The guest speaker for the ceremony will be Darryl Bayless of the West Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs. Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco will also speak at the event.
The two-day celebration concludes with the annual Veterans Day Dinner on Saturday night. Social hour is scheduled for 6 p.m., and dinner is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are available for veterans and non-military members at the American Veterans Association. Veterans and military members can attend and eat a free spaghetti dinner.
“I always enjoy being a part of Veterans Day.” Lambert said. “Veterans are important, especially because everyone who has served since Vietnam is a volunteer. No one has to serve, everyone is there because they want to serve. In honor of them, they Acknowledging them and recognizing the sacrifices they make is the least we can do for them.”