Community Veterans Memorial in Munster marks Armistice Day

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Updated: December 11, 2011 8:40AM

If you haven’t experienced the Community Veterans Memorial in Munster, the Armistice Day-Veterans Day ceremony Friday is another reason to visit this beautiful work of art that honors those who have served in the American armed forces.

It’s a stroll through 20th-century history and a challenge to break the repetition of violence in the future.

Visitors walk along pavers engraved with a time line of notable events in the 20th century. The time line is interspersed with elaborate monuments, moving settings, maps and recorded information for each military conflict of the 20th century, but ending with a hope for peace.

Friday’s ceremony will start at 10:45 a.m. at the Community Veterans Memorial, 9710 Calumet Ave.

“We try to keep a strong emphasis on Armistice Day, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when the armistice ended World War I,” said ceremony organizer Frank Darrington. “Later, (President Dwight D.) Eisenhower turned this recognition into Veterans Day.

“The ceremony will have some World War I-era music digitized from old cylinders, a few prayers, statements, a 21-gun salute, the playing of taps and a poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’ will be read.”

Members of VFW Post 2697 and American Legion Post 16 will participate in the ceremony. From there, several members will appear in Veterans Day programs at local schools.

Saturday is the monthly Family Day at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Free admission is offered to families with children ages 12 and younger, and many activities are planned, including projects led by several local artists. The activities run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The MCA’s current exhibit of Minimalist art from the 1960s and ’70s is titled “The Language of Less.” It provides the inspiration for the Family Day activities, encouraging creative communication through simple means.

For more information on other current exhibits, visit the website www.mcachicago.org.

The Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., is just east of the historic Water Tower. Discounted parking is available to museum visitors in the adjacent garage. Also, the MCA’s Chicago Store is a great place to shop for fun and unique holiday gifts.

Journalist, broadcaster and best-selling author Frank Delaney will speak at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Michigan City Public Library.

Delaney, who was born in Ireland, is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Ireland,” along with “James Joyce’s Odyssey,” the documentary series “The Celts,” and many other works of fiction and nonfiction.

He’s an engaging speaker and has been called “the most eloquent man in the world.” Delaney’s program is the last in this year’s Writing Out Loud series.

The library is at 100 E. 4th St., just south of U.S. 12 at Franklin Street. Admission is free. 

For more information, call 873-3044.