Muskegon area residents will have two opportunities to commemorate America’s armed forces contributions during Veterans Day on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Both ceremonies, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, are free and open to the public.
Causeway Veterans Memorial Park
The first ceremony will be held outdoors at 11.m. at the Causeway Veterans Memorial Park. The guest speaker will be Dave Eling, director of the Muskegon County Department of Veterans Affairs.
The event includes patriotic music by the Reeths-Puffer Middle School band. Military honors and a rifle salute will be provided by VFW Post 8846. The Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the American Revolution will present wreaths.
Muskegon Community College
The second event begins at 2 p.m. at Muskegon Community College, where an outdoor flag raising will be followed by reflections, tributes and performances of patriotic music and military branch anthems inside MCC’s Bartels-Rode Gymnasium.
The MCC ceremonies start at the main entrance flagpole with the raising of the flag. The Muskegon High School Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) will serve as the Honor Guard. U.S. Army veteran Jerry Conrad, an MCC adjunct instructor and local businessman, will serve as the emcee. He will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Participants, led by a solo drummer, will proceed to the adjacent Bartels-Rode Gymnasium, where the Grand Haven High School Chamber Orchestra, directed by Melissa D. Meyers, will perform “America the Beautiful” and other patriotic songs. The Shoreline Barbershop Chorus will sing the National Anthem.
MCC President Dale Nesbary will offer welcoming remarks. Rev. William Anderson, an Air Force veteran and pastor of Philadelphia Baptist Church in Muskegon, will deliver the invocation.
The list of speakers includes:
- Nancy Frye, a U.S. Air Force veteran and the MCC Board of Trustees secretary;
- Ronald Janowski, Ret. Colonel US Army and JROTC Instructor Muskegon Public Schools; and
- Jeff DeYoung, a current MCC student and former U.S. Marines counter-explosives specialist in Afghanistan, who will be accompanied by Cena, his former working dog.
The MCC Jaywalkers, under the direction of Thomas Clark, will sing the respective military branch anthems. SSgt. Steve Allen will speak briefly about the various military medals. A seven-member rifle squad from Muskegon County Council of VFW will provide a 21-gun salute to honor America’s fallen heroes. MCC student Jack Harrison will play Taps and American Legion Posts 9 and 297 will retire the colors. The Shoreline Barbershop Chorus will perform “God Bless America.”
MCC Vice President for Student Services and Administration John Selmon will provide the closing remarks. Refreshments will be served in the gymnasium following the event. For more information, call the MCC Student Life Office at (231) 777-0216.