By WKTV Staff
There are many ways to honor American’s veterans on this year’s Veterans Day, Thursday, Nov. 11, privately with friends and family who are veterans, and publicly with ceremonies at several locations.
WKTV brings you a few of them:
City of Kentwood
While the City of Kentwood’s city offices will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day, there will be a Luminary Walk at Veterans Park on Friday, Nov. 12, from 5:30-8 p.m.
Located at 355 48th St. SE, the park will have approximately a half mile of pathway lit up with luminaries decorated by community members. This event is free and open to the public, but “the entire event is outside so please bundle up so you and your family can stay comfortable,” according to the city website.
Public invited to flag ceremony at local Michigan Veterans Home
Michigan Veteran Homes will hold statewide Veterans Day activities to honor its veteran members and those who served before them, including at the Michigan Veteran Homes at Grand Rapids, located at 3000 Monroe Ave NE.
While the veterans home will host several “members only” events on Veterans Day, Thursday, Nov. 11, including a wreath laying ceremony in the memorial garden, the public is invited to a lowering of the flag ceremony led by the United Veterans Council of Kent County at 1 p.m.
‘Black Hawk Down’ author at GVSU
U.S. Army Rangers First Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Ret.) — whose battlefield experiences in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia led him to become an author (including the book on which the film “Black Hawk Down is based on) — will be the featured guest at a Veterans Day Celebration hosted by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, Grand Valley State University’s Peter Secchia Military and Veterans Resource Center and GVSU’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies.
The Veterans Day Celebration will take place Thursday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m., in GVSU’s Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, 401 West Fulton St., Suite 134 E, DeVos Center, Grand Rapids. For more information and to register, visit this gvsu.edu page. Free parking is available at the nearby Seward Ramp.
For a WKTV story on the event, visit here.
Gilmore Car Museum weekend of free admission to vets, active duty
To thank America’s veterans for their “endless service and dedication,” Gilmore Car Museum is inviting all active, inactive and U.S. military personnel to free admission to museum, car collection, and all its 90-acre historic campus in Hickory Corners, just outside of Kalamazoo. The special admission is available starting Veterans Day, Thursday, Nov. 11, and running through Sunday, Nov. 14.
Attending veterans and military personnel should be sure to take special notice of the 1941 Bantam BRC-40 Reconnaissance Car, which is currently on feature display in the museum’s Campania barn. Prior to Ford and Willys production of “General Purpose” vehicles that would become known worldwide as the “Jeep,” these early BRC-40s were first produced for the U.S. Army by American Bantam Car Company, in Butler, PA, and also under contract by Checker Car Company in Kalamazoo.
For questions or more information, visit GilmoreCarMuseum.org or call 269-671-5089.
Most county offices closed for Veterans Day
All Kent County offices and health department clinics will be closed on Thursday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day, with two exemptions are: the Kent County Correctional Facility will remain open with regular hours; the Department of Public Works administration offices will be closed; however, all disposal facilities will remain open. For more information about and contact information for Kent County departments, visit accesskent.com.
