Mount Airy’s annual Veterans Day observance on Thursday will represent a return to normalcy after COVID-19 prompted a scaled-down event last year.
This will include the program being held at its familiar venue, the Mount Airy War Memorial on the corner of South Main and Rockford streets, where 200 to 300 people usually congregate.
But in 2020, when restrictions on large gatherings were in effect, the event was moved indoors to Veterans Memorial Park, drawing about 40 people who were social distancing and wearing face masks.
Also last year, a traditional holiday parade was missing in action, but it will return on Thursday. The procession including units highlighting military-oriented groups is scheduled to depart from Veterans Memorial Park at 9:30 a.m. and end up downtown.
Patriotic program planned
As has been the case in the past, a full-fledged Veterans Day observance filled with music, color and pageantry will unfold at the war memorial site beginning at 11 a.m.
A trio of special speakers also will be featured, including Joe Zalescik, the newest member of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners; Mark Marion, the chairman of the Surry County Board of Commissioners; and Tim Watson, district attorney for Surry and Stokes counties.
The North Surry High School Air Force Junior ROTC unit and Greyhound Sounds chorale group additionally are to be involved, after not participating in the 2020 Veterans Day activities because of a COVID-related ban on school field trips.
Marion said Friday that his focus will be on the P-word.
“Patriotism and what our veterans fought for and what some of the country’s becoming,” the county commissioner said in expressing concern about recent attacks on that practice and the flag.
He also referred to the presence of the North Surry students, including its JROTC contingent.
“It’s refreshing to see young people being patriotic,” said Marion, whose father served in the Navy during World War II and who has other family members with military ties.
Marion added that as long as he is the county board chairman, Old Glory will receive its due respect in Surry.
List of activities
• Thursday’s program will begin with opening remarks by local radio station owner Kelly Epperson, the longtime emcee of the city Veterans Day event;
• An invocation will be delivered by Surry County Sheriff Steve Hiatt;
• The national anthem is then scheduled to be sung by the North Surry High School Greyhound Sounds, before a reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance by everyone in attendance;
• Next on the program is Mount Airy Mayor Ron Niland, who will offer welcoming remarks and read a city Veterans Day proclamation;
• Guest speakers Zalescik, Marion and Watson then will deliver their respective addresses;
• This leads up to a medley of service songs by the North Surry High School Greyhound Sounds;
• A flag-folding ceremony by the North Surry Air Force JROTC students will take place after that, with the program to close with remarks by Epperson.
Unlike some years when bad November weather has been a factor on Veterans Day, Thursday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high temperature in the mid-60s.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com