Veterans Day

Veterans Day The annual Veterans Day ceremony takes place at Hancock Middle-Senior High School Friday at 11 a.m. in the school auditorium. All veterans and those currently in the armed forces are welcome to attend. Call 301-766-8186 and give your name and branch of service to Tara Lazich. Workshop for seniors The Interfaith Service Coalition will host Keep a Senior Safe and Warm, an annual workshop for local senior citizens. The popular program takes place Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. at the Town Hall and Community Center, 126 W. High St. It is free of charge for area seniors and features speakers on winter health, safety and the economy.

On Friday, Nov. 11, in honor of Veterans Day, Dixon-Troxell American Legion Post 211 in Funks-town will hold a wreath-laying ceremony at 11 a.m. at the legion home. Immediately following the wreath-laying, the legion members will go to the other end of town for a ceremony at the Funkstown Veterans Memorial. The public is invited. Yard sale is Saturday Just because the temperature has dropped, that doesn't mean that yard sales are over. On Saturday, the Funkstown Legion will hold an indoor yard and flea sale.

Following is a list of events planned in observance of Veterans Day: Thursday Hagerstown Community College - Students in the Veterans Club at Hagerstown Community College will hold a Veterans Day event today at 11 a.m. in the Student Center on HCC's main campus. The event will include a presentation of colors by the Bulldog Detachment of the Marine Corps League and an invocation by Pastor John Miller. Immediately following the ceremony, the documentary “Restrepo,” a feature-length film that chronicles the deployment of a U.S. platoon in Afghanistan, will be shown at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Center conference room.

Grace Academy will hold a Veterans Day program at the school Thursday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. The school will honor men and women who have served our country and the ones who are serving now. The program will include the elementary choir, the elementary bells, the high school ensemble and patriotic readings and songs. The community is invited. The school is at 13321 Cearfoss Pike in Hagerstown. For more information, call 301-733-2033.

The following is a listing of scheduled Veterans Day ceremonies. Tuesday 6:30 p.m. - Salem Avenue Elementary School will hold a Salute to Heroes program to honor veterans and emergency services personnel such as police, firefighters and emergency medical service personnel. Third- graders will sing patriotic songs, and some fourth- and fifth-graders will share their writings about heroes. There will be an honor guard. The school is at 1323 Salem Ave. Extended in Hagerstown's West End. Thursday 6:30 p.m. - Winter Street Elementary School's fourth-grade class will perform a musical, “In Honor of Our Veterans,” in the gym of the school at 59 Winter St. at Hagerstown.

o List of Tri-State area Veterans Day events FUNKSTOWN -- American Legion Post 211 held a Veterans Day ceremony Sunday, one of many such events scheduled this week in the Tri-State area. Legion members placed a wreath at the veterans memorial on Legion property before proceeding to the veterans monument at the intersection of Baltimore Street and Alt. U.S. 40 to lay a wreath.

Events to honor Veterans Day include: Friday · The Joint Veterans Council of Washington County program at 9 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Wall at Martin L. "Marty" Snook Memorial Park in Halfway. Keynote speaker is James A. Adkins, deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs. · The annual Veterans Day assembly at Clear Spring High School will begin at 10:30 a.m. · Antietam Unit 236 of the American Legion Auxiliary will sponsor a wreath-laying ceremony at 11 a.m. in the Sharpsburg Town Square.

The 80th annual observance of Veterans Day on Wednesday, Nov. 11, will feature a number of activities around Washington County to honor those who served their country in the armed forces. Col. Jean M. Shinbur will be guest speaker at the 9 a.m. ceremonies at Marty Snook Park. Currently the commander of the 74th Troop Command of the District of Columbia Army National Guard, Shinbur's professional military career began with her enlistment in the Illinois Army National Guard in 1975.

An overnight prayer vigil, hosted by Back 2Acts Ministries, starts tonight at 9 p.m. and ends Saturday at 6 a.m. at Memorial Recreation Center, 109 W. North Ave.   Movie night Bridge of Life, at 14 S. Potomac St. in Hagerstown, will hold movie night Saturday, starting at 7 p.m. The movie, popcorn and drinks are free. To find out the name of this weekend's “featured” movie, call the church at 301-791-1674.   Annual tea The Zion Baptist Church Women's Day committee will host its annual Women's Day Tea Saturday at the Martin Luther King Center, 109 W. North Ave., beginning at 10 a.m. with the theme  “Journey to Joy: Women Running to Obtain the Prize,” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

Students at Hickory Elementary School performed a musical tribute to veterans Nov. 7, under the direction of Christa Stout, music teacher.  Guests were welcomed by Monica Bowers, principal at Hickory.   A photo presentation opened the evening as guests were seated.  The presentation included pictures of veterans who are family members of the Hickory Elementary School staff.   Students invited family members, friends and neighbors who...

“I want to thank Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and Bill O'Reilly for getting President Obama re-elected again. Just keep it up. We'll win another one in the next four years.” - Hagerstown “To the caller from Hagerstown who said President Bush left $6 trillion in debt: What do you think President Obama left for himself to deal with? Over $16 trillion. What here doesn't add up? Who is he going to blame for this? I guess the finger is pointing back at himself.” - Hancock “John McCain says that the U.N. ambassador Ms. Rice is unqualified to be secretary of state.

There should be a Veterans Month, not just Veterans Day. One day is not enough time to commemorate the sacrifices, most often courageously made by veterans on behalf of this great nation and its people. I never really thought about a monthlong observance recognizing veterans until this year. Veterans Day, Nov. 11, fell on a Sunday, so the outpouring of support for veterans seemed to cover a longer period than in years past. As a veteran, I participated in commemorations starting on Friday, Nov. 9, through Monday, Nov. 12.  Once that sequence started and concluded, it didn't seem enough in spite of this “extra long weekend” series of events.

Boy Scout Troop 412 participated in a Veterans Day color guard presentation at Paramount Baptist Church in Hagerstown on Nov. 11. Troop 412 is a newly formed troop.

Scouts from Pack 34 and Troop 412 toured a C5B Galaxy Aircraft and maintenance facility at the 167th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard in Martinsburg, W.Va., on Nov. 3. CMSgt. Robert Gregory conducted the tour. The tour was a way for the Scouts to recognize members of the military in observance of Veterans Day.

Patriotic music filled the Greencastle-Antrim High School auditorium Monday morning as students filed in for an assembly honoring the nation's military service members. Pictures of local veterans appeared on a screen as students took their seats for the program that featured remarks from guest speaker Lt. Col. Corey Spoonhour. Spoonhour, a 1997 graduate of Chambersburg (Pa.) Area Senior High School, enrolled in the Army ROTC at Penn State Mont Alto, studied electrical engineering and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.

Two women who lost their sons in Vietnam attended the annual Veterans Day ceremony in Sharpsburg on Monday, and an Army major who lost a friend in Afghanistan spoke at a Veterans Day event at Potomac Heights Elementary School. Brigitta Ecton, 88, of Somerford, Md., who lost her son, Harry, in Vietnam in 1968 when he was 20, spoke at the ceremony in Sharpsburg's Town Square hosted by Antietam Unit 236 American Legion. “I am here today to honor him and thank everybody who is also honoring him” Ecton said.

Activities and programs scheduled for Monday, Nov. 12, through Friday, Nov. 16, at senior citizens centers in Washington County, Md., and Franklin County, Pa.: Maryland Francis Murphy 20014 Rosebank Way, Hagerstown 240-313-9300, ext. 154 Closed for Veterans Day - Monday Blood pressure screening with Meritus Home Health Care - Tuesday, 10 a.m. Birthday Club with Len Mosby - Wednesday, noon ...

Approximately 60 people attended the Joint Veterans Council of Washington County's Veterans Day ceremony Sunday morning in Halfway, a crowd large enough to draw comments and appreciation from the event's speakers. “This is one of the largest turnouts we've ever had,” said Wayne Taylor, president of the Joint Veterans Council as he stood in the Veterans Memorial Garden at Martin L. “Marty” Snook Memorial Park. Marine veteran Robert “Bo” Myers, the event's speaker, said it was wonderful to see so many veterans and family members of veterans.