Area events to be held in honor of Veterans Day

The following events will be held in honor of Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11:

BANGOR – Gov. John Baldacci and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud will join veterans groups to march in this year’s Veterans Day parade, to begin at 10:15 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11, on Wilson Street in Brewer.

The parade will form at 9:30 a.m. in the Brewer Shopping Center parking lot.

Units will proceed down Wilson Street, across the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge, then down Main Street in Bangor. At the reviewing stand in West Market Square, a brief ceremony will conclude with a three-volley salute and the playing of taps. The parade will continue onto State Street, taking a right on Exchange Street to disband at the Fleet Bank Building.

Veterans riding the buses and those walking can leave their vehicles in the parking lot in Brewer or at the Exchange Street parking lot in Bangor. Veterans who park in Bangor can ride First Student buses to Brewer 9:15-9:30 a.m. Friday.

BANGOR – An observance saluting veterans of all wars will be held immediately after the parade, at about 12:30 p.m. Nov. 11, at the Maine Korean War Memorial at Mount Hope Cemetery.

The Marine Corps League will participate in the ceremony, as will Brewer High School’s 40-piece band. The officiant will be the Rev. Peter Sprague of Columbia Street Baptist Church. Trumpeter Hal Wheeler will sound “To the Colors” and taps.

Six people who have provided assistance to the Burton-Goode-Sargent Chapter of the Maine Korean War Veterans will be inducted as honorary members of the chapter. For more information, contact Ken Buckley at 942-6501.

BANGOR – The Cole Land Transportation Museum, 405 Perry Road, will hold an awards ceremony at 1 p.m. Nov. 11 for six area pupils who are winners in the museum’s essay contest, “What Freedom Means to Me After Interviewing a Veteran.”

The museum will close for the season at 5 p.m. Veterans Day. Through Nov. 11, World War II veterans who tour the museum will receive a ruptured-duck pin commemorating the war.

GUILFORD – Eighth-graders at Piscataquis Community Middle School will honor local veterans at a ceremony at 1 p.m. at the school. Refreshments will be served.

HAMPDEN – The Hampden Veterans Honor Roll Monument will be dedicated at its site in front of the Hampden Municipal Building, Route 9, at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11.

Speakers for the event will be state Rep. Deborah Plowman, R-Hampden; Richard Milliken and American Legion Post Commander Richard Newcomb. Frank Lucas will give the invocation.

A military honor guard will present the colors and play taps. A military flyover by a Bangor Air National Guard KC-135 tanker will occur at noon.

After the dedication, a gathering will be held at the community room of the municipal building. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Allison Berube at 942-1890.

ORONO – Cadets from the University of Maine Army and Navy ROTC programs will participate from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in the annual Veterans Day vigil on the steps of Fogler Library in front of the University Mall.

A lone cadet will stand at attention in dress uniform in honor of the service members of all wars. Cadets will be relieved of their posts throughout the day through a changing of the guard ceremony similar to that practiced at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

NEWPORT – Calvary Baptist Church will hold a veterans appreciation service at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov., 13. Maj. Mark Brooks of Hartland will be the guest speaker. Brooks, a Maine State Police sergeant, recently returned from Iraq. The church is at 39 Grove St. For more information, call 368-5838.

PATTEN – The Patten Historical Society, located at 38 Main St., will hold a program titled, “Honoring the Troops” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10. There will be guest speakers, music and refreshments. For further information, contact Norma Pond at 528-2187 or Sharon McPhee at 528-2136.

PITTSFIELD – A veterans supper will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at the Sebasticook Valley Elks Lodge on Middle Street. The spaghetti dinner will honor the homecoming of Spc. Fred Allen Jr., who was seriously injured in Iraq. Guest speaker will be U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud. For more information, call 487-6300.

WINTERPORT – The members of Argonne Post 138, American Legion, will hold a ceremony to honor all veterans at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at Winterport Memorial Library on Route 1A. All are welcome.