Events to honor veterans

Published 1:38 pm Thursday, November 9, 2017

Events across the Heart of Virginia will honor veterans this weekend as part of a celebration of Veteran’s Day, which is Saturday.

As a way of saying thank you for your service, Edward Jones Investments will have free coffee, juice, doughnuts, fruit, muffins and more for all veterans Friday from 8-11 a.m. at 306 E. Third St. in Farmville.

The National Junior Honor Society will host a Veteran’s Day event at Prince Edward County Middle School Friday at 9 a.m. Students will speak, and the school’s band will perform. According to a press release, a reception for veterans will follow the program.

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The Fuqua School band will be performing for a community Veteran’s Day program Friday at 11 a.m. on the Crute Stage in downtown Farmville. The guest speaker will be Col. Quincy Handy.

Taylor Rodriguez, who has been voted the second-best Elvis Presley impersonator in Virginia, will be performing to honor veterans. According to Piedmont Area Veterans Council and Community Services (PAVC) Co-Founder Sarah Maddox Dunn, PAVC — in conjunction with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7059 and the Farmville American Legion Post 32 — will be holding an Elvis tribute Saturday from 6-8 p.m. at the Firemen’s Sports Arena in Farmville.

“There’s a special section that will be specifically to honor veterans,” Dunn said.

Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park will be holding a luminary event Saturday from 6-8 p.m. in honor of Veteran’s Day. According to the park’s education specialist, Jim Godburn, the event will include luminaries set along one of the park’s approximately mile-long loop trails where, along the way, participants will be greeted by people dressed in Civil War-era clothing.

“We station them at various places along the trail with period lanterns,” Godburn said. “And as each group is led down the trail, the person at the next station will step out and give a short presentation having to do with the soldier life or life along the campaign from Richmond and Petersburg or a firsthand account of the situation there during the battle on April 6, (1865).”

He said groups of 20 or 25 people will start on the trail every 30 minutes.

“It’s a family-friendly program that folks are encouraged to dress warmly and wear appropriate footwear for hiking on the trail,” Godburn said. “The groups are led by staff and volunteers here at Sailor’s Creek.” The event at Sailor’s Creek is one of many commemorating the event.