Veterans Day celebrations and events

These area events are among those being planned to mark Veterans Day. Though officially celebrated on Nov. 11 each year, many observances were held before the Wednesday holiday.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

>> The Bellevue Public Schools and the Bellevue-Offutt community will pay tribute to U.S. men and women in uniform with a parade through downtown Bellevue on Saturday. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Jackson Street and move along Mission Avenue. After the parade, the school district will host a chili feed at Mission Middle School, 2202 Washington St. The meal costs $3.

>> The Parade of Veterans at the Fair Center in Syracuse, Neb., will feature photographs, uniforms, equipment, letters and other items from the Civil War era through present conflicts. The items will on display for one week starting last Sunday. Members of Massie-Richards American Legion Auxiliary, Unit 100, are sponsoring the free event.

>> The Red Oak (Iowa) Kiwanis Club will host a Veterans Day event Tuesday at the Wilson Performing Arts Center in Red Oak. The organizers of the Heartland Honor Flight program, Bill Williams and his wife, Evonne, of Lincoln, will be the featured speakers. The free program will start at 10 a.m.

>> A military exhibit honoring veterans from Butler County is on display through Nov. 22, at the former Legion Hall in David City, Neb. For more information, call 402-367-4258.

POLITICAL APPEARANCES

>> Gov. Dave Heineman will speak Tuesday at Chadron State College’s Veterans Awareness Conference. Heineman will address the daylong conference from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. The event, which is free to the public, will be in the Student Center on the campus.

>> Vice Adm. Carl Mauney, deputy commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, will give the keynote speech Wednesday at the Veterans Day celebration at Omaha’s Memorial Park. The event will begin at 11 a.m. Also scheduled to speak: Gov. Dave Heineman, Rep. Lee Terry, Sen. Ben Nelson, a representative of Sen. Mike Johanns and Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle.

>> Sen. Mike Johanns will visit veterans at the Grand Island Veterans Home Wednesday between 5:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Then from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. he will be at the College Park Auditorium, also in Grand Island, for a coffee social with the public.

SCHOOL EVENTS

>> Manchester Elementary School in the Elkhorn Public Schools will have a color guard, songs, a flag-folding ceremony and a 1954 M37 military vehicle on display during its Veterans Day program Friday at 9 a.m.

>> Students at Cottonwood Elementary School in the Millard district will honor veterans Friday with a patriotic program and sing-along. The event will begin at 2:30 p.m. with a slide show of military families. At 5 p.m. there will be a pancake dinner, featuring clowns and face painting.

>> Paddock Road Elementary School in District 66 will salute veterans Tuesday . A program honoring their service will begin at 2:15 p.m. Veterans are encouraged to dress in their uniforms or other military wear.

>> A Veterans Day celebration is planned Wednesday at Metropolitan Community College’s South Campus, 2709 Edward “Babe” Gomez Ave., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

>> Hickory Hill Elementary School students have invited active, retired and reserve military personnel to join them for a Veterans Day celebration and assembly Wednesday. Lt. Col. Amanda Myers, a mother of two Hickory Hill pupils, will be the guest speaker. The event at the Papillion district school begins at 8:15 a.m.

>> Freshmen at Papillion-La Vista South High School will gather in the Titan Theater on Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. to honor veterans. Students with the JROTC will present the flag and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Members of the marching band and choir also will perform.

>> Students at Brownell-Talbot School are looking for veterans to interview on Wednesday for a school project. The students want to collect accounts of the veterans’ service and welcome them to lunch at noon and to a fourth-grade music class between 12:50 p.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call Mrs. Hartwig at 556-3772.

>> Stan Lambert, an Army veteran held captive in Germany for more than four months during World War II, will speak Wednesday at the Veterans Day program at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Neb. Lambert will speak at 10 a.m. in the Cox Activities Center Theater. The program, which will include patriotic music, is free and open to the public.

>> As a Veterans Day project, students at Squire John Thomas Elementary School in the Gretna school district have been collecting movie DVDs for soldiers overseas. The movies collected will be presented to fifth-grade teacher Ken Glover during Wednesday’s 2:30 p.m. program. Glover’s son, Jerry, is serving in Afghanistan.

>> Platteview High School in Springfield will have a Veterans Day program beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

>> A Veterans Day recognition is planned Wednesday for all the veterans who reside at Papillion Manor Nursing Home in Papillion. Retired Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke from Sen. Mike Johanns’ office will address the residents and family members. There also will be a color guard presentation and a video program featuring all the residents who are veterans.

>> The Lofte Community Theatre in Manley, Neb., will present a free Veterans Day concert on Sunday at 2 p.m., featuring New Horizons, a clarinet ensemble stationed at Offutt Air Force Base. The colors will be presented by Weeping Water Legion Post 237.

>> The American Legion Post 32, 230 W. Lincoln St. in Papillion, will hold a Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday at 11 a.m. The Ladies Auxiliary will serve coffee and cookies after the program.

>> A Veterans Day spaghetti dinner at VFW Post 2503, 8904 Military Road in Omaha, will be held Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The cost is $7. Proceeds will help benefit “Operation Uplink,” a program that distributes phone cards to soldiers overseas.

>> The St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church Primetimers, a senior ministry group, will honor veterans with a potluck dinner and game night on Nov. 17. The event begins 6 p.m. in the church’s social hall, 15353 Pacific St. A parish school assembly to honor veterans is set for Nov. 19 at 2:10 p.m. in the gymnasium. Veterans interested in having their names included on a tribute list should call 330-4356.

>> St. Martha Episcopal Church, 72nd Street and Cornhusker Road in Papillion, will hold a service to honor veterans on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Veterans are invited to wear their service uniforms or medals.

>> The Strategic Air & Space Museum in Ashland will honor those who have served this country with a ceremony Nov. 14. The Saturday event will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the museum’s atrium.

SPECIAL PERKS

>> The Papillion-La Vista School District will have a military family appreciation festival and lunch Sunday. This free festival will feature a magic show, face painting, clowns, karaoke and other carnival activities. The event will last from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Papillion-La Vista South High School.

>> Breakfast will be free for all veterans Wednesday at area Hy-Vee Supermarkets. The Brownell Talbot Lower School Chorus (students in grades three and four) will sing for veterans at several area Hy-Vees.

>> All veterans and active duty military personnel are invited to have a free lunch or dinner at Applebee’s restaurants Wednesday. The invitation is good for all U.S. veterans and active duty military with proof of current or former military service.

>> National parks and other public recreation area fees will be waived Wednesday to honor veterans. Visitors will find no admission costs to national parks, refuges and other public recreation areas on Veterans Day, said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Areas include any public recreation lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. — Compiled by Chip Olsen

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