RUMFORD — Jim Denholm felt like he had come home Friday morning when he and more than a dozen other World War II veterans were honored at the Eagles Club.

Denholm, originally from Rumford, is a resident of the Maine Veterans Home in South Paris.

He, other World War II veterans, as well as some Korean War veterans who reside in an area nursing home, were treated to lunch, music and socializing at the annual event.

Other area people, including town and county managers, and American Legion members also attended to honor the war veterans.

“This is a way for me to pay tribute so I can sit here today,” Dixfield police officer Anne Simmons-Edmunds said.

Rumford Town Manager Carlo Puiia said it was important to take the time to say thank you.

“It’s great that they do this every year,” he said. He was referring to John Kezal, a Korean war veteran himself, and others who put the event together.

For Walter Bubier, it was the first time he had come from his residence at Victorian Villa Rehabilitation Center in Canton to the Rumford Eagles lunch.

“I’d been to one in Augusta,” he said.

Bubier, who turned 91 Friday, served in the Army Air Force during World War II, and has called Wayne, Jay and Wilton his home over the years.

“When I was a kid,” he said, “there used to be May Baskets.”

He walks a mile everyday with his walker, he said.

Local musician Barry Wood sang the national anthem. American Legion chaplain Dan Curato led a prayer thanking God for the joy of life.

Jonathan Shute, representing Congressman Michael Michaud, D-Maine, said the number of World War II veterans is diminishing at a rate of about 2,000 a day. The National World War II Museum website puts that number at about 750. About 16 million men and women served in the military during the war. About 1.6 million are still alive.

Kezal, liaison chairman with the South Paris Veterans Home, said between 40 and 50 World War II veterans have died at that residential home in the past year.

Rep. Sheryl Briggs, D-Mexico, said she was proud to attend Thursday’s event. At the end of March, she helped organize a gathering of Vietnam War veterans who were honored at the first Vietnam Veterans Day.

“We support them and thank them (WWII and Korea) for what they have done, and the patriotism they have carried through their life in their hearts,” she said.

Several WWII and Korean War veterans also attended from the Rumford Community Home.