Avoyelles to honor its veterans this week

Avoyelles Parish will honor its veterans with services, ceremonies and programs this week. Following is a list of those events.

Thursday, November 9-----------
9 a.m. Marksville Elementary - Two women whose sons died while in military service and four military veterans will be honored during a Veterans Day program at Marksville Elementary School. The program will be held in the school cafeteria.

The school’s Beta Club members will serve as hosts and hostesses for the event.

Ann Barnett, a U.S. Air Force veteran of Desert Storm -- the first Gulf War -- will be special speaker for the event.

Barnett, of Mansura, was a staff sergeant in the Army and is currently a supervisor at Nazarene Christian Academy. Her father was in the U.S. Air Force and she served 12 years in the Air Force.

Gold Star mothers Neta Desselle and Delores Lewis will receive special recognition at the program. However, they represent all mothers and fathers who have lost their sons and daughters in this nation’s military actions.

Army Spec. 4 Richard Desselle of Moreauville died in Vietnam on May 1, 1967. Desselle was with the 1st Infantry Division when he was killed by shrapnel in Binh Duong Province. He was 21.

Army Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Lewis of Bunkie was killed in action in Iraq on March 13, 2006. He was in a convoy north of Ruslamiyah when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee. He was in the 258th Military Police Co. at Fort Polk. He was 32 and had enlisted in 1993.

Other special honorees for the occasion will be retired Army Brig. Gen. Sherian Cadoria, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. John Bordelon, retired Army Warrant Officer Daniel Schwab and Army 1st Sgt. Bruce Jackson.

Friday, November 10______________

12 noon in Bunkie - A ceremony will be held at the Bunkie Veterans Memorial next to the train depot. Refreshments will be served. Dr. Don Hines, a veteran, will be guest speaker. For more information call (318) 346-7663.

6 p.m. in Cottonport - The Town of Cottonport will sponsor a candlelight vigil for veterans at the cross on Bayou Rouge. The event will feature speakers, singing and a respectful ceremonial burning of old American flags.

For more info, call (318) 876-3485.

Veterans Day, November 11_______________

9 a.m. in Fifth Ward - The Fifth Ward Veterans Memorial will be rededicated in ceremonies sponsored by the Fifth Ward Knights of Columbus. Refreshments will be provided by Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Altar Society. Work was recently completed to restore the memorial’s foundation and to improve landscaping at the site. As part of the Veterans Day ceremony, more names of local veterans will be added to the memorial.

10 a.m. at Avoyelles Veterans Memorial, Marksville - The annual Veterans Day program sponsored by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, Paragon Casino Resort and the veterans organizations in Avoyelles will be held.
In case of bad weather, the event will be in the casino’s Grand Hall. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

The Avoyelles Parish Honor Guard will fire a 21-gun salute in honor of veterans.

A reception will immediately follow the ceremony.

All veterans and active military personnel can receive a voucher for free breakfast or lunch at Market Place Buffet on Veterans Day by showing a valid military ID card at the Preferred Players Club. Limit one per person.

11 a.m. in Marksville - American Legion Auxiliary Prevot-Johnson Unit 130 will present a Veterans Day program at 11 a.m. at the Marksville Veterans Monument in Edgar Park.

Marksville High School students Gracie Laborde and Cameron Wilson will serve as emcees. Jeannette Knoll and the St. Joseph Catholic Church choir will perform during the event. District Attorney Charles Riddle III will be guest speaker.

Members of St. Joseph and Holy Ghost Catholic churches will participate in the program with inspirational readings.

The public is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served.

For more information call Eleanor Gremillion at 253-9222.

2 p.m. in Marksville - On Veterans Day, 15 Avoyelles Parish men who did not make it back from Southeast Asia will be honored when a new memorial monument is dedicated on La. Hwy 1. The dedication will take place near Walmart at 2 p.m., on the property of the Elvis and Ethel Caubarreaux family.

VFW #3139 of Marksville, American Legion Post 130 and the Cenla Honor Guard spearheaded the effort to create the memorial monument and to have Tunica Drive -- that section of La. Hwy 1 inside Marksville -- dedicated to honor those men.

5 p.m. in Effie - The Ward One Community Foundation will host a ceremony from 5-6 p.m. at the Ward One Veterans Memorial Walkway on La. Hwy 107 near Effie Grocery. Veterans and the general public are invited to attend. For more information call (318) 613-2274.

5 p.m. at Avoyelles Parish Veterans Monument, Mansura - Avoyelles Parish’s military veterans will be remembered and honored with singing and fireworks sponsored by Cottonport Bank on Veterans Day.

The patriotic activities will be held at the site of the Avoyelles Veterans Monument in front of the Cottonport Bank on La. Hwy 1 in Mansura. Scott Coco will emcee the event.

Cub Scout Pack 94 will raise the flag and lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Once again, the Victory Belles will perform World War II-era hits in the style of the Andrews Sisters and other WWII entertainers. The three-woman singing group comes from the World War II Museum in New Orleans. World War II vet will have special seat in front.

The only act that can possibly follow the boogie-woogie beat of the Belles is a fireworks display -- which is exactly what the bank has scheduled.

While remembering sacrifice and service of our veterans is certainly a part of every Veterans Day, the Cottonport Bank event focuses more on celebrating veterans for their sacrifice and service rather than solemnly memorializing them -- and that is why it has become one of the most anticipated events of the year.

Sunday, November 12_________________

10:30 a.m. in Plaucheville - The village of Plaucheville will host a program at the Plaucheville Veterans Monument, at 361 La. Hwy 107. The event will be held after the 9:30 a.m. Mass at Mater Dolorosa Church.

For more information, call (318) 876-2712.