CELEBRATE

go to benefit veterans.

• The Yuma Jaycees will host their ninth annual Support Our Troops Benefit at their clubhouse, 2577 E. County 14th St. Doors open at noon, with admission being free.

The Jaycees have lined up two speakers for the event, Jerry Lillie, an exMarine and past Yuma Jaycees president and past Silver Spur Rodeo chairman, and former Yuma County Sheriff John Phillips.

Meals including hamburgers, hot dogs and side dishes will be available for purchase, and children can enjoy snow cones and jump around in a bounce house donated for the event by James Rentals of Yuma.

Also at the event, the Jaycees will accept donations of toiletries and other items that will make up care packages sent to U.S. troops serving oversees. Items that will be accepted are toothbrushes and toothpaste, mouthwash, breath mints, dental floss, wipes, sunscreen, deodorant, lip balm, lotions, pens, notebooks, books, post cards, postage stamps, games, magazines, hot sauce, envelopes, gum, beef jerky, hard candy, granola bars, drink singles, socks and cards.

This is the ninth year in a row the Yuma Jaycees have staged the event as part of the joint effort by their parent organization, Junior Chamber International, and Support Our Troops, a nationwide nonprofit organization, to collect items for care packages for men and women serving in the military overseas.

“It was a national project, and because of the Marine base (in Yuma) and the area’s strong ties to the military, we just decided to keep it going (at a local level),” said Aaron Allen, Yuma Jaycees president.

“We’re going to start the ceremonies at 2 p.m., and we are going to observe the National Moment of Remembrance,” he added.

The moment was established by Congress to allow Americans, wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, for pause in a minute of silence in honor of those who died in service to the United States.

• AmVets Post 2, 8889 S. Frontage Road, will host a flag-raising ceremony and honor guard salute at 12:30 p.m., followed by a fundraising buffet that is open to the public.

The AmVets post also hosts dinners from 4 to 7 p.m. the last Saturday of each month in appreciation of those who have served. Funds raised at the Memorial Day event and monthly dinners go for veterans causes in the Yuma area.

• At noon Monday, Veterans for Foreign Wars 8242, 7120 S. Highway 95, will host a flag-raising ceremony that will be conducted by the Rough Riders motorcycle group. The ceremony is open to the public.

• The public can meet area military veterans and officers of American Legion Post 56 at an open house at the post, 1490 W. 3rd St., from 2 to 5 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

• VFW Post 6790 in Wellton, 29389 Oakland Ave., will host a flag-raising ceremony at 10 a.m., then will lead a procession to the town’s cemetery, 11651 William St., where a Memorial Day service will take place.

After the service, hamburgers and hot dogs will be served back at the post at a barbecue that is open to the public.

For those who want to join it, the ABATE Memorial Day run will stop by most of the Memorial Day observances as they are taking place, Hernandez said.

“We’ll meet downtown at the Gowan Building, where the old post office used to be, at 8 a.m., and then from there we’ll go to the Oceanto-Ocean Bridge for the wreath-laying ceremony. Then we’ll go to Desert Lawn for the Memorial Day service, then we’ll head out to VFW Post 8242” for the noon flag-raising ceremony, he said.

Also on Monday, ABATE will hold a fundraising Memorial Day poker run that will benefit the organization’s motorcycle education programs. The poker run leaves Post 8242 following the flag-raising ceremony and goes to the Wellton VFW post, then proceeds to AmVets Post 2, to the Disabled American Veterans post in Yuma, 954 S. 13th Ave., and to American Legion Post 56, ending up at VFW Post 1763, 2845 E. 14th St.

VFW Post 1763 will serve hamburgers, hot dogs and side dishes to the public following the poker run.

People who want to take part in ABATE Memorial Day run should meet at the Gowan Building at 8 a.m.; they don’t need to sign up in advance.

Those wanting to ride in the poker run can call Hernandez at (928) 210-7895.