Walker County veterans will be honored in grand style next month with a variety of events being held in celebration of Veterans Awareness Week, Nov. 8-14, and Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Activities kick off on Nov. 7 with a golf tournament at Elkins Lake Country Club, sponsored by the East Texas Military Officers Association of America.

Registration for the tournament begins at 7:30 a.m., with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. The entry fee is $100 per team member ($65 for Elkins Lake Country Club members) and includes green fees, 1/2 cart and lunch and beverages following play.

New to this year’s veterans week agenda is the Youth Tribute to Veterans, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at the recently opened Veterans Conference Center on state Highway 75.

The tribute includes speeches given by this past year’s Veterans of Foreign Wars essay contest winners, and musical performances by the Huntsville Youth Orchestra and the Huntsville Children’s Honors Choir will also be performing to honor veterans.

The Civil Air Patrol and the Huntsville Area Rhetoric Team will also be present to help during the “white table” or “missing man” ceremony, done for the families of POW or MIA (soldiers).

There is no cost for admission and refreshments will be served after the event.

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, U.S. Marines past and present are invited to the Marine Corps Birthday event, also taking place at the Veterans Conference Center, at 11 a.m.

“Every year, all over the world, Marines meet and have a celebration to commemorate the birthday of the Marine Corps — Nov. 10, 1775,” event organizer Joe Shaw said. “We have been doing this in Huntsville for 21 years now.”

The event includes the reading of the commandant’s annual letter, with the oldest and youngest Marine present cutting the birthday cake. A meal is also planned for attendees.

“We have from 75 to 100 people come to the event each year,” Shaw said. “We welcome all Marines and the naval personnel who served with them as corpsman to attend.”

The week’s festivities culminate on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, with the grand opening ceremonies of the new HEARTS Veterans Museum of Texas.

The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. at the HEARTS Veterans Museum Complex and will include several special guests, exhibits and events to mark the occasion.

“The real ‘Kissing Sailor’ from the famous post-war photograph will be there signing autographs,” HEARTS Museum Director Randy Wells said. “Some World War II fighter pilots will be there and state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst will speak during the ceremony.”

According to Wells, a limited amount of commemorative coins have been made to mark the museum’s opening. Those will be for sale at the event.

“There will be something for everybody,” Wells said. “It will be a great opportunity to come to the new HEARTS museum and visit with those who made our country free.”

The Veterans Day celebration continues Wednesday evening with the annual Veterans Banquet, taking place at 6:30 p.m. in the Veterans Conference Center.

“A silent auction will take place at 6 p.m. in the center’s Coast Guard Hall,” Wells said. “The Huntsville Men’s Choir will perform and service awards will be presented.

Also at the banquet, a slide presentation on the new HEARTS Veterans Museum will be shown, with photographs of the construction process from start to finish.

“The HEARTS Museum has been a long time coming for so many people,” Wells said. “It started as the dream of just a few individuals, then a move to the mall and the donation of land.

“The new museum location gives us so much more room to display exhibits,” he said. “And it allows us to better education local youth, which is a primary reason for our existence.”

Tickets for the Veterans Banquet are $20 per individual or $200 per table.

Wells felt it was very appropriate for the new museum’s grand opening to take place in conjunction with Veterans Day and Veterans Awareness Week.

“I am excited to see us utilize the museum and conference center in coordination with Veterans Day events,” he said. “I am also very thankful for the volunteers who came out to put all this together.”

A Wounded Warriors Tour wraps up the week’s events on Saturday. Call HEARTS Veterans Museum representative Geraldine Persoon at (936) 295-5959 for more information about any of the Veterans Awareness Week events.