By Mary Rainwater
Walker County veterans will be honored next week with a variety of events being held in celebration of Veterans Awareness Week, Nov. 8-14, and Veterans Day on Wednesday.
Kicking off the event is the Youth Tribute to Veterans, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday 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, 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, Wednesday, 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.
“Some World War II fighter pilots will be there and state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst will speak during the ceremony,” HEARTS Museum Director Randy Wells said. “We will have a special flag-raising and ribbon cutting, then open the museum for tours.”
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.
“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.”
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.
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.”
The Sunshine Network’s Veterans Appreciation Weekend wraps up the week’s events on Saturday and Sunday. Originally geared toward veterans and their families, the event is now being opened to the public.
The weekend begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with a tour of the HEARTS Veterans Museum and Texas Prison Museum. Guest speakers, entertainment, and lunch are also included in the day’s activities.
On Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. guests are invited to spend the day at Huntsville State Park’s Raven Lodge, where a church service and more food and entertainment are promised.
Call HEARTS Veterans Museum representative Geraldine Persoon at (936) 295-5959 for more information about any of the Veterans Awareness Week events.
