The banner for Orland Park’s Harvey Manning at West Street and Ravinia Avenue was a gathering place for family and friends on July 3 during the Hometown Heroes event. (Photos by Jeff Vorva)
Banner year continues for Orland Park veterans
By Jeff Vorva
It’s a banner year for Orland Park veterans.
Literally.
The village put up 53 banners honoring local vets along Ravinia Avenue and held a special ceremony for their family and friends on July 3 at the Ara Pace Memorial site near Village Hall.
Guest speakers at the Hometown Heroes Banner Dedication and Walking Tour were Dale Carver, the chairman of the Orland Park Veterans Commission, Darryl Wertheim, the veteran program assistant of the Orland Park Veterans Commission and Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau. All three are veterans.
The Hometown Heroes Banner Dedication drew hundreds on Saturday at the Ara Pace Memorial site.
“I’m deeply honored and proud to stand with you in commemorating these Orland Park men and women for their service to their country,” Pekau said to the hundreds in the crowd. “And I would be remiss if I did not also thank their families. It can often be as hard or even harder than for the servicemen.”
Orland Park honors its veterans
The village hosted a Tuesday in the Park for the vets in June and July 6, and it will host a third on 6 p.m. July 20.
There will be a military tribute at the Taste of Orland Park on Aug. 7.
The Veterans Golf Classic will take place on Aug. 31 at Silver Lake Country Club.
There will be a luncheon for the vets on Oct. 4.
Finally, a Veterans Day ceremony takes place Nov. 11.
For more information on those events, contact Wertheim at 708-403-6115 or [email protected].
Veteran Dale Carver speaks to the crowd and holds up a book about local veterans given out at the Hometown Heroes event.
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