RUMFORD — The annual Veterans Day ceremony takes place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, in the auditorium of Mountain Valley High School.

Vietnam veteran, Joseph Roberts will be the featured speaker. He served in the Air Force from 1971-1976, including a year in Vietnam. He is also the commander of the local Sundown Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

Members of that youth group will serve as color guard, and will perform the missing man ceremony, which depicts an empty place setting for a soldier missing in action.

Veterans of all wars are encouraged to attend and to arrive early so they can line up for a march into the Muskie Auditorium. They are also encouraged to wear the insignia of their military outfit.

Patriotic songs will be performed by the Mountain Valley High School band and by the Rumford Association for the Advancement of the Performing Arts.

Snacks will be served after the ceremony at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on Waldo Street.

The local VFW sponsors the Veterans Day observance while the Rumford American Legion Post organizes the annual Memorial Day celebration.

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1918, at the 11th hour to mark the end of fighting for World War I.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower had the name changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all veterans.

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