Veterans honored in Emporia with parade, memorial Wednesday morning
EMPORIA, Kan. (KSNT) - Veterans will be honored in Emporia with a Veterans Day parade and Memorial Wednesday morning.
The Veterans Day parade will run down Commercial Street in downtown Emporia, starting at 4th Avenue and running to 12th Avenue. Following the parade, a Veterans Day memorial service will be held at the All Veterans Memorial at 931 South Commercial Street.
There is still a mask mandate in Lyon County, and organizers are asking people to wear masks and socially distance at both events.
Emporia Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Jeanine McKenna said Veterans Day is important to the city of Emporia, which is known as the founding city of Veterans Day.
"We recognize the importance of our veterans, what they have done, the sacrifices they have made to not only us as individuals in our community, but for our nation," McKenna said. "That is something that has been important to our community since it's beginning."
Veterans Day was born in Emporia.
Manhattan is also having their annual parade. It also begins at 9:30am and will start at the mall and travel west down Poyntz Avenue.
McKenna said an Emporia man named Alvin King had the idea to expand Armistice Day to include all veterans.
He pitched the idea to his congressman. It was later signed in to law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.
"Armistice Day recognized veterans from WWI and before," McKenna said. "Unfortunately there have been more wars and conflicts and we needed a day to recognize all of our veterans from the past to the future."
There have been events in Emporia honoring veterans throughout November.
Click here for a full schedule.
The Veterans Day Parade starts at 9:30 a.m. and the Veterans Day Memorial Service starts at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday.
People can watch both events online by clicking here.