A city and county-wide Veteran’s Day celebration will be Saturday morning at 8 a.m. with Civil War re-enactors a Depot Park. Events will continue throughout the day at the Festhalle Market Platz.

“This is an annual celebration of Veteran’s Day,” local veteran Ken Brown said.

Brown is a retired from the U. S. Air Force after 26 years and is helping to organize the event.

“We will have the Alabama Division of re-enactors set up a Civil War encampment at Depot Park,” Brown said. “They will be in uniform and doing living history and talking about how it was back then.”

Brown said the re-enactors will be a good event for anyone interested in history.

Opening ceremonies will be at 10 a.m. with the Sons of the American Revolution, dressed in full period attire, presenting the flag and national anthem.

Guest speaker Col. John Casper, a career fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, will speak under the Festhalle at 11:40 a.m.

“This is an opportunity for Vietnam veterans to be welcomed home,” Brown said.

Brown said with more than 5,500 veterans in Cullman County, there should be an event to honor them.

“We are just going to keep making it bigger and bigger,” he said. “If the veterans come out, it will be a nice event.”

“This is going to be the best program we have ever had,” Mayor Max Townson said. “We want this to become an annual event.”

Townson, who served four years in the U.S. Air Force, wants people to remember freedom is not free.

“We want to honor all those who have served and who are serving currently,” Townson said. “We believe it is just the right thing to do to teach our children and grandchildren what a veteran really is and to thank them.”

Local gospel group, The Revelations, will be performing at 12:15 p.m. and food vendors will be at the Festhalle throughout the day.

“This is really going to be a nice family event not only to celebration our veterans, but also a celebration of our freedom,” Townson said.

There is also a competition between all city and private schools on who can bring the most veterans. Cullman Savings Bank will offer a cash prize to the winning school.

There will also be a new memorial at Sportsmans Lake Park that was scheduled to be open for the ceremonies, but due to rain delays will not be finished. Veteran’s Memorial Park will feature the Alabama Vietnam Veteran’s Wall, a Purple Heart Memorial and an Army tank.

Bricks will be available for $50 to buy in honor or memory of a veteran. They will be placed around the wall at the park.

CARTS will be running between the Festhalle and Sportsman Lake Park Saturday for anyone wanting to visit the wall.

Townson said the city plans to include money in their budget next year for the event.

Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at the VFW Post a reunion for veterans and their spouses will be held. Brown said there will be 1960’s music and light refreshments served.

The event will be rain or shine.



The schedule for events is:

*  8 a.m. Visit Civil War re-enactors in their camp at Depot Park

*  10 a.m. Invocation, National Anthem with the Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard

*  10:20 Introduction of Veterans by West Elementary students

*  10:30 a.m. Demonstration by Civil War re-enactors

*  11 a.m. Introduction of veterans by East Elementary students

*  11:10 a.m. Demonstration by Brewer High School Jr. ROTC drill team

*  11:40 a.m. Guest speaker-Col. John Casper, USAF, ret., Vietnam fighter pilot

*  12 noon introduction of veterans by Cullman private school students

*  12:15 p.m. Gospel singing by The Revelations

*  1 p.m. Introduction of veterans by Cullman High School students

*  1:15 p.m. parachute demo by Cullman skydivers.

*  1:45 p.m. Remarks by Mayor and county commission chairman

*  2 p.m. Introduction of veterans by Cullman Middle School students

*  2:15 p.m. Cullman Combat Heroes recognition ceremony

*  2:45 p.m. Tribute to the fallen/TAPS-Military Order of the Purple Heart

*  3 p.m. USAF fly-by

*  7 p.m. Vietnam veterans reunion-Cullman VFW Post



* Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.