FARMINGTON – There will be at least two observances of Veterans Day on Thursday in Farmington.

Women in Black, a worldwide network of women committed to peace, and the Edwards Philbrick Auxiliary of Veterans World War I have announced plans to mark the holiday.

Lee Sharkey of Women in Black said two people will read names of American veterans and Iraqi civilians who died in the past year as a result of the Iraq war.

They will read as many names as possible on one hour. Attendees are encouraged to wear black and line up in rows reminiscent of tombstones.

The idea for this year’s Veterans Day event “came out of a what’s next’ conversation,” at a gathering after the election, she said. It is being presented by a coalition of Farmington-area groups “concerned with peace and social justice issues,” according to a press release. Other groups participating are SEA Change, the League of P.O.’ed Voters, Veterans for Peace and Western Mountains Peace Action Workshop.

“It is a reminder of the cost of war,” Sharkey said Monday. “We’re well aware that we’re redefining Veterans Day. But it is not intended to antagonize anyone,” she added. Everyone is welcome.

Sharkey and several others dressed in black have stood vigil outside the Farmington post office from noon to 12:30 p.m. every Friday since January 2002. She has been organizing nontraditional Veterans Day events for the last three years, and this year Sharkey, a professor of English and women’s studies at the University of Maine at Farmington, wanted to get students involved.

A traditional ceremony will take place Thursday at the World War I memorial arch on Fairbanks Road.

Floriece Kennedy of the Edwards Philbrick Auxiliary Veterans of World War I No. 2689 described it as “quick and formal.”

State Sen. Chandler Woodcock will offer comments, a wreath will be laid to honor veterans of World War I and others, and a moment of silence will be observed for members of the armed forces at war now, member Barbara Titcomb said.

The auxiliary, composed of daughters of area World War I veterans, has dwindled to about a dozen members, Titcomb said Monday. Its ceremony will begin on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the same time the armistice was signed in 1918.

Titcomb, in her 70s, said she will forever call the day Armistice Day, which is what she knew it as growing up. The holiday’s name was changed to Veteran’s Day in 1954 to honor all veterans.