The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
GI meal, wreath laying set for Vets Day
PORTLAND — The town’s annual Veterans Day ceremonies will have an added significance this year, as Nov. 11, 1918, is the 100th anniversary of the day WWI finally ended.
Portland veterans, their families and town officials will mark the day with a GI breakfast Nov. 10, with a ceremonial wreath laying at the Veterans Memorial at Town Hall at 11 a.m. and the annual veteran’s dinner to follow at 6 p.m. The breakfast is presented by the local American
Legion Post No. 69 at its 11 Freestone Ave. headquarters, beginning at 7 a.m.
The meal is drawn from a 1941 Army cookbook, and includes the choice of ham, cheese or plain omelets, grits, bacon or sausage, and Sgt. Kathleen Burke’s famous chipped beef on toast. The $6 all-you-can-eat meal comes with the choice of coffee, tea or orange juice, and will be served until the food runs out. Orders to go will also be available.
Sunday, veterans will join town officials, who will gather to lay a wreath at the memorial, which
contains the names of more than 2,000 Portland residents who have or who are serving in the American wars of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Following the placement of the wreath, Taps will be played to honor those who veterans who have passed on.
At 6 p.m. Sunday night, Mellili’s Caffe will serve its annual dinner to local veterans and their significant others in the Portland High School cafeteria. Tickets for the event can be obtained at Town Clerk’s office in Town Hall, at the Senior Center at 7 Waverly Ave.,
and at Quonset Surplus at 11 Pickering St.
The dinner began as a tribute to veterans for their service, and allows locals to sit down with fellow veterans share a good meal and good conversation, and perhaps tell a few war stories.
Once again this year, the Middlesex Hospital Vocal Chords have volunteered to entertain the veterans.