Warsaw to hold 84th consecutive Veterans Day Celebration
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on October 12, 2004 1:59 PM
WARSAW -- This year will be Warsaw's 84th consecutive Veterans Day Celebration.
Warsaw's Veterans Day celebration has made it into the updated encyclopedias, and it will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6, in downtown Warsaw with the Veterans Day Parade.
The event this year will be sponsored by WCTI Channel 12 and UPN 48 television, with live programming cut-ins. The theme this year is "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty."
Three Medal of Honor winners, Walter J. Marm, Jr., Rodolfo Hermandez and Robert Patterson, will be the grand marshals. They will be available to meet the public at 2 p.m. in the Duplin County Veterans Museum, formerly the Best House.
The Veterans Committee needs help in the following areas:
*The committee is attempting to attract more non-professional float participation and plans to offer a $400 prize for the best non-professional float. Each unit entering the parade must have a patriotic motif. All signs must be stenciled in red, white and/or blue. All schools, clubs, school bands, civic organizations, churches, businesses and individuals are urged to join in the Warsaw parade. You do not have to be from Warsaw or Duplin County to participate, but the parade organizers do have the right to reject any entry at any time, and all decisions are final. A $10 fee will be charged for each unit entering and is to be paid in advance and nonrefundable. Exceptions to the $10 fee are the car and motorcyclist clubs, $40; horse clubs by invitation only, $40. The fee for individuals on horses, limited to 25, will be $25.
For applications come by the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce in Town Hall or call Linda Kitchin at 910-293-7804 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The deadline for entering is Oct. 27. About one week before the parade, all applicants will receive a spot number for line-up and will be told to be at North Front Street, which is also U.S. 117, by 10 a.m. on Nov. 6.
*Vendors are needed. You do not have to be a professional vendor to set up for the day. A group, organization, school or individual can rent a space to sell crafts or products or to advertise a business. Vendor fee is $50 for food and $40 for non-food items. Contact Linda Kitchin at 910-293-7804 to get an application and be assigned a space.
*The "Veterans Day Writing Contest" is going on in all of the Duplin County schools. The theme is "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty," and Michael Mozingo is in charge. He is at North Duplin School on Mondays and Tuesdays and at the Warsaw Middle School on Wednesdays and Thursdays. First-prize winner gets $100, second prize is $50, and third prize is $25. The winners will ride on the Veterans Museum float, and their papers will be on display at the museum and become a permanent archive of the museum. The contest closes on the Oct. 22.
*The Veterans Day Dance will be help at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post at 364 Bruce Costin about one mile from the turn off on U.S. 117 North. Social hour will be from 7 until 8 p.m., with light refreshments and soft drinks. The live band will start the dance at 8 p.m. Cost will be $5 per person, and tickets will be sold only at the door. There will be no brown-bagging or smoking inside the building.
*Volunteers for all events and activities are needed, including help with the parade line-up, vendor set-ups, locations and directions to out-of-town visitors and numerous last-minute tasks.
For information or to volunteer, call the Warsaw Chamber at 910-293-7804.