South Suburbs hosting multiple Veterans Day events
Parade, ceremonies among area events
Parades, observances and other ceremonies will be held around the Southland to honor those who have served the nation.
As it gears up for parades later this month in Chicago and next spring in Washington, D.C., the 120-member Southland College Prep Ambassador Band will be part of Veterans Day commemorations in the south and southwest suburbs.
A parade Saturday in Richton Park is among several events planned locally to honor military veterans.
The Southland College Prep band along with the Marching Lady Eagles Dancers and the 125-member band from Huth Middle School in Matteson will take part in a Veterans Day parade that begins at 10 a.m. in front of Southland College Prep, 4601 Sauk Trail.
Veterans Day originated as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919, and was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Ceremonies are traditionally held on the “11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour” to mark the armistice that ended what was called The Great War, later to become World War I.
Here is a sampling of observances planned in the Southland, many of which will take place Saturday.
Alsip
■ Ceremony begins at 11 a.m. Monday at the Alsip Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 450, 11800 S. Cicero Ave.
Chicago Heights
■ The city’s Morning of Reflection begins at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Veterans Mound at U.S. 30 and Chicago Road. In the event of inclement weather, the event will take place in the Recreation Center, 1400 Chicago Road.
Hickory Hills
■ The city’s Veterans Day events will be held from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday at City Hall, 8652 W. 95th St.
Homer Glen
■ Veterans Day activities will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Monday at Konow’s Farm, 16849 S. Cedar Road, Homer Glen. There will also be a container for worn or damaged flags that will be disposed of at a later date.
Lansing
■ Lansing’s Municipal Airport, Burnham Avenue and Glenwood-Lansing Road, will host a ceremony beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday.
New Lenox
■ The village’s annual Veterans Day observance starts at 11 a.m. Monday at New Lenox Commons, 145-199 Veterans Parkway.
Oak Lawn
■ The choir from Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School will perform as part of the village’s ceremony starting at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Village Green, 53rd Avenue north of 95th Street and the public library.
■ Afterward, the school’s band will perform at the Johnson-Phelps Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5220, 9514 S. 52nd Ave.
Orland Park
■ Names of area military veterans that have been added to the village’s Veterans Memorial will be read as part of a ceremony starting at 11 a.m. Monday in the Village Center, 14700 S. Ravinia Ave. Students from Orland Junior High School will take part in a wreath laying before the names of the 16 veterans added to the wall are read aloud. The memorial contains the names of more than 1,000 veterans.
Palos Heights
■ A ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Memorial Park, 7607 W. College Drive.
■ At noon, a reception for veterans and their families will be held at the Palos Heights Public Library, 12501 S. 71st Ave.
Palos Hills
■ A ceremony will take place from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Veterans Memorial at Town Square Park, 8455. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be held inside the Community Center at the park.
Palos Park
■ Activities will begin at noon Monday in the recreation building at Village Green, 8901 W. 123rd St. A free lunch for veterans will be held afterward.
Park Forest
■ Starting at 11 a.m. Saturday at Freedom Hall, 410 Lakewood Blvd., there will be a display of military vehicles provided by The Veterans Garage along with musical performances.
Prairie State College
■ The Chicago Heights school, 202 S. Halsted St., will mark Veterans Day with events including a ceremony from noon to 1 p.m. in the Barnes & Noble College Auditorium, featuring keynote speaker Hazel Crest Mayor Vernard Alsberry.
■ Starting Monday and continuing through Friday, the school will display the Portrait of a Soldier exhibit, which includes hand-drawn portraits of more than 300 service members from Illinois who have died in the line of duty since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Created by Cameron Schilling, an artist from Mattoon, the portraits are arranged by each person’s date of death, beginning with Patrick Murphy, of Flossmoor, who was a victim of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon.
Richton Park
■ Bands from Huth Middle School in Matteson and
Southland College Prep Charter High School in Richton Park will take part in a parade the steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday in front of Southland College, 4601 Sauk Trail, and ends with a ceremony at the Richton Park Metra station at Sauk Trail and Governors Highway.
Sauk Village
■ The Veterans Day ceremony starts at 11 a.m. Monday at Village Hall, 21801 Torrence Ave.
Tinley Park
■ The village’s Veterans Day commemoration will take place at 10 a.m. Monday at the Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza directly south of the 80th Avenue Metra station.