Gala in Tonganoxie, parade in Leavenworth highlight Veterans Day celebrations
Tonganoxie will celebrate Veterans Day with a Veterans Gala on Saturday.
The event will be 4-7 p.m. at Tonganoxie VFW Post Home.
Vintage Park and Crossroads Hospice and Palliative Care will honor the military this Veterans Day. They will be hosting a night of food, drink and entertainment at the VFW Post Home.
Cocktails will be served starting at 4 p.m., dinner will follow at 5 p.m. and dessert at 6 p.m.
The Sorta Famous Band will perform during the gala.
A host of speakers also will make appearances at the event: 1st Lt. Michael R. Shoemaker of Vintage Park Assisted Living, Stella Ruivz, Crossroads Hospice and Palliative Care, Former post commander Larry Meadows of the VFW, Maj. Jason Inskeep and Col. James Miller with the U.S. Army Reserves.
RSVPs can be made on Facebook by looking for the event on the Vintage Park page or by contacting Kasey Kern at 816-260-5858.
Other sponsors for the event are Pepsi Co, Suburban Liquor, Flashbacks, C&C Produce, Brothers Market, Gambinos, Lidias KC and Tonganoxie VFW.
Veterans Day parade Saturday in Leavenwoth
The nation’s oldest regional Veterans Day observance will have its 98th annual event starting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in downtown Leavenworth.
Leavenworth is the regional site for the Veterans Day observance for the states of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. This year’s parade theme is again Honoring All Who Served.
Approximately 200 participants have been invited to participate with 170 committed entries. The 2017 Parade Grand Marshal is Army veteran Army Lynn Rolf, Jr., with the LHS JROTC being selected as honorary grand marshal. This year’s parade chairman is retired Army MG John Davoren representing VFW Post 12073, Fort Leavenworth.
Fort Leavenworth will have a soldier dressed in World War I attire on reviewing stand as part of the Army’s commemoration of World War I.
The parade emcees are Ron Coaxum, Fourth and Cherokee; Tim Vandall, Riverfront Community Center; Bill Corbet, 400 block of Delaware; Dan Wiley, Reviewing Stand, 7th & Delaware; and Walter McCullum, Jr., Haymarket Square.
The lineup of the parade will begin with bagpipers led by Dale Cleland, John Bauer and Kevin Regan and the Fort Leavenworth 15th Military Police Brigade Color Guard.
The parade will stop at 11 a.m, for taps with buglers stationed throughout the parade route.
MG James Mingus, director, Mission Command Center of Excellence, Fort Leavenworth, will conduct an oath of enlistment for local recruits. Mingus also will present the Fort Leavenworth Community Service Awards to Army veteran Master Deputy Robert W. Oliver, Jr., the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office and Army veteran Lansing Police Officer John Gable. Both will take place in front of reviewing stand.
Monetary awards will be given for best floats in first-, second- and third-place categories. Floats will be judged on parade theme, ‘Honoring All Who Served’, originality, creativity and patriotism. Judging will be done by Steve Cormier, representing Fort Leavenworth, Lisa Blanck representing Citizens Savings & Loan Association, and Jeff Frank representing Walmart.
Various food options are available Saturday. Leavenworth Rotary’s annual Veterans Breakfast will be 7:30-10 a.m. at Riverfront Community Center, $6, with all disabled veterans getting breakfast free.
After the parade, there will be open houses at V.F.W. Post 56, 519 Cherokee; American Legion Post 94, 215 Maple; and Knights of Columbus, 207 S. 4th which all are opened to the public. Applebee’s, Lansing IHOP and Lansing Buffalo Wild Wings will again have free meals to all veterans and active duty military with ID.
The Heritage Center also will have free meals for veterans immediately after the parade. St. Martin’s Lutheran Church is sponsoring the meals.