Veterans Day celebrations begin early this year as Hospice of Huntington hosts a special ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday.

For the past month county veterans have been encouraged to bring in copies of photographs of themselves or their family in uniform.

Those photographs are on display on the third floor of the courthouse on a wall of honor.

And it is those photos that will form a backdrop for the Hospice ceremony where Gerard Lambert, board president of the county veterans service commission, will speak. Also on the program will be Charlene Farrell, president of the Huntington organization, and Rachel Sargent, veterans program chair for Hospice.

The ceremony will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third floor of the courthouse.

The Ironton High School Varsity Singers will perform the National Anthem and VFW Post 8850 of Ironton will present and retire the colors.

Then on the actual Veterans Day the Ironton VFW will be front and center again as it conducts the annual Woodland Cemetery service. It is scheduled for the traditional time of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the day the World War I Armistice was signed. The post’s honor guard will present colors, perform a 21-gun salute and close the ceremony with a playing of Taps.

Veterans will also be honored throughout the county in a variety of ways.

From now through the weekend the village streets of Chesapeake will be lined with the American and POW flags.

Fruth Pharmacy at Proctorville will have its annual Veterans Day lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. The lunch of barbecue and slaw is free to every veteran and will be served by the gift area of the store.

Fairland Middle School will once again hosts its annual veterans breakfast starting at 9 a.m.

The school’s cafeteria workers will dish up a free breakfast as Fairland High’s Varsity Vocals will perform.

Schools will also conduct special programs for veterans to honor their sacrifice.

Among those are at Burlington Elementary School where there will be a flag raising ceremony at 9:30 a.m.; South Point High School where veterans will be honored in a special assembly at 10 a.m. and Dawson-Bryant High School’s history club that will honor those veterans in attendance and host a luncheon at 9:30 a.m.