(Photo By Flickr User U.S. Army Materiel Command)
Here is the 4-1-1 of what will be happening with the area's Veterans Day activities:
Friday-11/8/13:
Pekin, IL: 5 p.m.: Liberty Village-Pekin Manor will host a dinner for residents who served in the armed forces.
Saturday-11/9/13:
North Pekin, IL: 9am-5pm: Jake's Place Barber Shop at 407 N. Radio City Drive will give free haircuts to veterans.
Peoria, IL: 10am-12noon: Goodwill's Gen. Wayne A. Downing Home for Veterans, 403 S. Olive St., will host an open house.
Peoria Heights, IL: 10am: Gen. Wayne A. Downing American Legion Post 1111 will host a parade starting at Marietta Avenue and Prospect Road and proceeding to Tower Park, where a ceremony will include remarks by Kathryn Bickerman Downing and parade grand marshal Chuck Brown, a WWII Marine Corps veteran who fought at Iwo Jima.
East Peoria, IL: 11am: VFW Post 2078 will have a ceremony at Fondulac Cemetery.
1:30 P.M.: Veterans Day Parade begins at Columbia and Washington streets, ending at Taylor Street near Central Junior High School.
Washington, IL: 11am-2pm: Washington Historical Society is hosting an open house at the Dement-Zinser House, 105 Zinser Place, for veterans, their families, supporters and the community. Coffee and doughnuts will be served from 11 a.m. to noon.
Sunday-11/10/13:
Peoria, IL: 2:30pm: Four veterans from four generations will speak on the topic "I Remember" at Soldier Hill in Springdale Cemetery. They are Nora Leman, who served in the South Pacific in WWII as a second lieutenant and Army nurse; Norm Kelly, an Air Force staff sergeant in the Korean era; H. Wayne Wilson, an Army specialist 5 in the Vietnam era; and Rod Richards, a Marine Corps master gunnery sergeant in the Iraq era. Also, Marines in dress blues will cut cake to celebrate the 238th birthday of the Marine Corps.
3:30pm: Members of the Peoria Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will present "God Bless America: A Community Hymn Sing for Veterans Day and Thanksgiving," at the First Baptist Church at 411 W. Lake Ave.
Bartonville, IL: 2pm: Area celebration in the Limestone Community High School auditorium. Special music provided by Joy and Keith Haun and the Oak Grove Chorus.
Washington, IL: 2pm: Michelle Calloway from the Greater Peoria Honor Flight will be the guest speaker at an event at Deiters Funeral Home and Crematory at 2075 Washington Road. The event is co-hosted by the funeral home and the Washington Chamber of Commerce. Doors open at 1 p.m. A parade of veterans to the Veterans Memorial at Washington Park will follow the event.
Monday-11/11/13:
Peoria: 8:30am: Staging begins for the 61st Peoria Veterans Day Parade, which kicks off at 10am at Bryan and Monroe streets. The parade will travel down Monroe to Main Street and around to Adams Street, arriving at the Courthouse Plaza, where there will be a ceremony at the WWI and WWII Memorial.
2pm: Pekin High School Army JROTC honor guard will perform a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action ceremony at Advanced Correctional Healthcare at 3922 Baring Trace.
Bartonville, IL: 1pm: Peoria County State's Attorney Jerry Brady will be the guest speaker as Limestone American Legion Post 979 dedicates its new memorial. There will be an honor guard and the playing of taps.
Brimfield, IL: 2pm: Brimfield Grade School's annual Veterans Day celebration will be in the gymnasium. A cookie social will be in the cafeteria from 1 to 2 p.m.
Chillicothe, IL: 11am: American Legion, Marine Corps and VFW will conduct a ceremony at Chillicothe Cemetery.
Eureka, IL: 9am: A new flagpole will fly a new flag at the Woodford County Courthouse. Speakers include state Rep. Josh Harms, R-Watseka. American Legion Post 466 will present the colors, and the Eureka Christian Church choir will sing the national anthem.
Glasford, IL: 10am: Annual Veterans Day Parade on Main Street.
Green Valley, IL: 11am: Names on newly installed veterans' bricks will be read at the Green Valley Veterans Memorial. Special recognition will be given to veterans who served during the 1980s-1990s-2000s. Flag raising by the Green Valley Fire Department Honor Guard.
Industry, IL: 12Noon: LaVern McEntire will speak about the honor flight at the Veterans Memorial on Main Street. There will be a color guard ceremony, tolling of the bell and reading names on bricks at the memorial.
Pekin: 11am: Pekin High School Army JROTC honor guard will perform Prisoner of War/Missing in Action ceremony as part of the Veterans Day observance at the Tazewell County Courthouse Monument. A luncheon will follow from 11:45am-1pm at North Pekin AMVETS Post 169 at 660 Radio City Drive in North Pekin.
Princeville, IL: 9:30am: Veterans will be recognized during a program at the Princeville Grade School gymnasium. Boy Scouts will present the flags.
Washburn, IL:10:30am: The Rev. Pat Jones of the Washburn and Henry Christian churches will be guest speaker at the American Legion Log Cabin, 104 E. Parkside Drive. After the program, a luncheon will be provided by the Washburn American Legion Auxiliary Unit 661.
