Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Ceremonies today and Thursday and a parade on Saturday will highlight Veterans Day observances in Curry and Roosevelt counties.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday, a public ceremony will be held for the hanging of a commemorative Vietnam War flag in the Clovis-Carver Public Library’s hallway leading to its North Annex. The flag will be available for public viewing after the ceremony.
The library is located at 701 N. Main St., Clovis. More information is available by calling the library at 575-769-7840.
At 10 a.m. Thursday, a ceremony honoring veterans for Eastern New Mexico University and local communities will be held at ENMU’s Campus Union Building Ballroom. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. and snacks and drinks will be served, Ron Hodnett, ENMU’s military affairs coordinator, said.
Speakers will include retired Army 1st Sgt. Dr. Robert Schneider, veteran Army Sgt. Benito Gonzales, and Air Force Lt. Kristin Rowe. Hodnett, a retired Air Force captain, will lead a Fallen Comrades presentation and the Cannon Air Force Base Color Guard will post the colors.
Door prizes will be given away during the reception following the ceremony, Hodnett said.
There will be 13 chairs set up to honor the 13 U.S. service members who were killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, with each chair holding a photo of one of the service members, Hodnett said.
At 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Veterans Day services will be held at the Memorial Building in Portales, located at Seventh Street and Abilene Avenue. The ceremony is expected to take about 30 minutes.
The ceremony will feature speakers Andy Nazario, who will talk about “Why People Serve,” and Michael Woolley, who will talk about World War II veterans, according to Randy Dunson, who organized the event for the Portales American Legion.
Additionally, the ceremony will honor two World War II veterans, Al Bachicha and Clarence Thompson, who were missed in a previous ceremony, Dunson said.
At 11 a.m. Thursday, a Veterans Day memorial service will be held at the Plains Regional Medical Center in Clovis. A centerpiece of the service will be a Battlefield Cross sculpture placed there a few months ago through Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3280, Clovis.
Patsy Delk, whose two sons are members of the VFW post, said she arranged in cooperation with the VFW to install the sculpture at the hospital’s flagpole.
Delk said representatives from the VFW and hospital staff will participate in the ceremony.
A veterans parade will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, starting at Hilltop Plaza, 2300 N. Main St., Clovis and will proceed south on Main Street to Second Street, according to Nick Mondragon, administrative assistant for the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce.
Potential entrants in the parade have until 3 p.m. today to register through the Chamber, according to a parade flyer. Information: 575-763-3435.
The parade will assemble starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Hilltop Plaza, the flyer stated.
Following the parade, winners of first, second and third place awards for parade entries will be announced at noon at VFW Post 3280, 200 W. Grand Ave.
Boy Scouts from Troop 411 will perform a flag retirement ceremony 9:30 a.m. Sunday at American Legion Post 25, 2400 W. Seventh St.