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File photo – Veterans from American Legion Bert Hodge Post 45 and VFW Post 3349 hold flags during the 2021 Veterans Day ceremony at the Palatka riverfront.
Community members are gearing up to honor veterans Saturday with parades, festivals and open houses.
Gerald Donnelly, the commander for VFW Post 3349 in Palatka, said he has been planning the city’s Veterans Day parade since at least September.
“It’s quite an honor for the veterans to be honored,” he said.
The parade will begin at 10 a.m. and proceed along St. Johns Avenue from 11th Street to the riverfront. This year’s grand marshal will be retired Army veteran Lt. Col. Charles Coxsell, Donnelly added.
After the parade, people can stay for the Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at the riverfront, Donnelly said. He hopes to see plenty of people attend Saturday’s festivities to honor people who served.
After the ceremony, Donnelly said, families and veterans can travel to the post, 3201 Reid St., for an open house. The event will take place from noon – 5 p.m., and VFW members will light the building’s War Memorial Plaza fire pit at 2 p.m.
Donnelly said the memorial display was completed in time for Memorial Day, but the post has yet to light the fireplace.
“I want to share my appreciation to both (holidays),” he said.
American Legion Bert Hodge Post 45 veterans are also involved in the Palatka parade. People can join them at the Legion, 316 Osceola St., for hot dogs and hamburgers after the riverfront ceremony.
Crescent City will also have its parade at 11 a.m. Saturday, starting at 500 N. Summit St. and ending at Eva Lyon Park, 100 S. Summit St.
Interlachen will celebrate Veterans Day with a concert and festival from noon – 2:30 p.m. at Mary Wisham Park, 170 County Road 315.
Organizer Brandon Cumbo said he is not a veteran but the cause is dear to him because his wife served in the United States Air Force and left with a disability. The Interlachen event is being held to honor every veteran who gave everything to this country, and made it possible for him, and all Americans, to live the lives they have.
"I am all about community and growing up in Interlachen helped it to leave a special place in my heart," Cumbo stated Thursday.
He said he is hoping for a great turnout, and believes the event will be a success.
The event will feature games, vendors, and musical performances by Interlachen Junior-Senior High School, Summer Frost Music and Scotti Sevven Music, according to a festival flyer.
On Nov. 11, 1918, allied forces signed a ceasefire that ended World War I, according to the Library of Congress. One year later, President Woodrow Wilson declared Nov. 11, 1919, the first Armistice Day, now known as Veterans Day.
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation,” Wilson stated in 1919.