Veterans Day activities planned around the Mid-Ohio Valley

Local News Veterans Day activities planned around the Mid-Ohio Valley By From staff reports November 10, 2026 4 min read Students from St. John Central School work on putting American flags along Ohio 676 Monday morning in preparation for a veterans program they were conducting today at the school. Veterans Day is Wednesday.  (Photo by Art Smith) Carlin’s Battery D 1st West Virginia Light Artillery fires its ceremonial cannon at the 2025 Veterans Day Celebration at Spencer’s Landing in Vienna. (File photo) People line Washington Avenue in 2025 during Parkersburg’s Veterans Day Parade. (File photo) 1 / 3 expand close ✕ Students from St. John Central School work on putting American flags along Ohio 676 Monday morning in preparation for a veterans program they were conducting today at the school. Veterans Day is Wednesday.  (Photo by Art Smith) Carlin’s Battery D 1st West Virginia Light Artillery fires its ceremonial cannon at the 2025 Veterans Day Celebration at Spencer’s Landing in Vienna. (File photo) People line Washington Avenue in 2025 during Parkersburg’s Veterans Day Parade. (File photo) 1 / 3 Trending PARKERSBURG - Veterans Day will be celebrated in the Mid-Ohio Valley with parades and ceremonies on Wednesday. The annual Veterans Day Parade will begin around 9 a.m. at the horseshoe at Parkersburg High School and travel on Washington Avenue to City Park where ceremonies to honor veterans are planned near the Washington Avenue entrance. The parade and events are being hosted by the Commandant Archibald Henderson Detachment 1087 of the Marine Corps League. "We would love to see a great turn out for the parade and ceremony," Jason Lowe, commandant of Detachment 1087 and an organizer, said. "Come out and support all our veterans and the organizations they support and that support them.” The ceremony at City Park will include Scott Kirby, master of ceremonies, and the bands from Parkersburg High School, Parkersburg South High School and Williamstown. The bands will perform the national anthem and a medley of music representing the armed forces. The parade marshal is Wayne Starcher, a Parkersburg High graduate who joined the Marines and served in Vietnam from 1966-67 as an infantryman, radio operator and a tunnel rat. He is a member of local veterans organizations and has been honored by the Chapel of the Four Chaplains with the Legion of Honor. Proclamations and other remarks will be made by Vienna Mayor Chad Emrick and state Del. Scot Heckert. Local veteran Jerry Smith will be the guest speaker. Smith is an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, is a member of local veterans groups and has received the Bronze Medal from the Four Chaplains and founded Welcome Home Veterans, among other accolades. Groups participating in a wreath laying are the American Legion Post 15 Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1212 Auxiliary, the Parkersburg Woman's Club, the South Parkersburg Woman's Club, the James Wood Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Adoration Hospice and the Veterans Museum of the Mid-Ohio Valley. VFW Post 1212 in Parkersburg is serving soup on Veterans Day from noon to 4 p.m. In Marietta, the Veterans Day parade lineup begins at 9 a.m. on Hart Street. The parade, organized by the Ronnie W. Davis Memorial VFW Post 5108 in Marietta, starts at 10 a.m. and goes from Hart to Second Street, left onto Green Street, Green to Front Street and Front to the war memorial at Muskingum Park. Elks Lodge 477 in Marietta will hold a Veterans Day Picnic from noon to 3 p.m. at the lodge, 414 Colegate Drive. Veterans and their families are invited for hamburgers and hot dogs. In Vienna, a Veterans Day Ceremony will be held at noon at the Vienna Community Building and include a program with a free lunch of either cream of broccoli, beef vegetable or chicken noodle soup for veterans afterward. The program includes the posting of the colors by the Archibald Henderson Detachment 1087 Marine Corps League, the national anthem by Mikayla Morgan, an opening prayer by Pastor Bill Dunfee of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Vienna, the Pledge of Allegiance by Cub Scout Pack 20, music from the Jackson Middle School Choir, remarks by Emrick and a cannon ceremony from Carlin's Battery D. The 18th Veterans Day Parade in Ripley forms at the high school and begins at 9:30 a.m. and will include Maj. Gen. James Seward, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, as parade marshal. Seward also will deliver remarks at a ceremony at the end of the parade at the Starcher Mansion. A grave marker dedication for Civil War soldier Charles Frederick Stark will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Carson Cemetery off Ohio 7 north of New Matamoras, led by a member of the Sons of Union Soldiers organization. Anyone is welcome to attend.