The Muskegon area community will commemorate America’s armed forces contributions with two Veterans Day ceremonies, both open to the public, on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
The first ceremony will be held outdoors at the Causeway Veterans Memorial Park and begins at 11 a.m. This event will include patriotic music by the Shoreline Barbershop Chorus and the Reeths-Puffer Middle School Band. The guest speaker will be Kurt Troutman, professor of history at Muskegon Community College. Military honors and a rifle salute will be provided by American Legion Post 9.
The second event begins at 2 p.m. at Muskegon Community College, where an outdoor flag raising ceremony 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, while the Shoreline Chorus, under the direction of Annette Jurcevic, will sing the National Anthem.
Participants 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.
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;
- Richard Mullally, founder and director of the Muskegon County World War II Veteran project; and
- Brandy Ruel, a current MCC student who served with the National Guard on two tours of duty in Iraq and a tour of duty in Germany in support of the Afghan War.
The MCC Jaywalkers, under the direction of Thomas Clark, will sing the respective military branch anthems. A seven-member rifle squad from American Legion Posts 9 and 297 will provide a 21-gun salute to honor America’s fallen heroes. MCC student Jack Harrison will play Taps. 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.