PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Presque Isle celebrated Veterans Day with a series of events throughout the city, with a ceremony being held in Veterans Memorial Park, and a supper at the Elks Lodge on Main Street.
The ceremony was run by Boy Scout Troop 177 from Washburn.
The troop had completed a refurbishing project for the Presque Isle Veterans Memorial Park, headed by Eagle Scout candidate Jacob Deschenes. The project was meant to clean existing stone and repaint or replace rusted structures in the park.
“We decided that we would revamp it and kind of re-do it,” said Deschenes. “Some stones that were laying in the front were in disarray, and we noticed that the flagpoles were rusting. For me, this was a project about honoring the people who answered a call.”
The ceremony closed by honoring local veterans, presenting them with pins thanking them for their service in the United States military.
Then, later in the day, the Presque Isle Elks Lodge held a Veterans Day supper for veterans and their families.
Admission was free to those who had served their country. The Elks offered raffle prizes, like hats, shirts and maple syrup, and served a large assortment of different preparations of moose meat, thanks to the generosity of the game warden.
Instead of getting rid of seized moose meat, the Maine Warden Service decided to donate it to the Elks for dinner, so that it would not go to waste.
Among the preparations were moose lasagna, meatballs, chili, stew and chowder. The event also had no shortage of volunteers, eager to help and serve the veterans and their families.
The Veterans Day supper has been an annual tradition for years, but when COVID-19 hit, the dinner had to take a hiatus. One year later, the Elks lodge saw their biggest turnout ever.
“This was the biggest turnout we have ever had,” Navy veteran Greg Daniels said. “All we had to do was come on out, and it was a great time for everybody.”
“We definitely missed having this time to get together with everyone,” Army veteran Renee Wells said.
Unfortunately, the live music portion of the evening needed to be canceled, due to a band member suffering a hand injury earlier in the day.
“We had 30 different people prepare food,” Elks President Reuben Caron said. “We have been planning this out for a couple of months, and we are so grateful to all our volunteers, as well as the Maine Warden’s Service for providing the moose meat. As long as there are veterans, the Elks will never forget them.”
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine–November 11, 2021–The Elks Lodge at 508 Main St., hosted their annual Veteran’s Day supper Nov. 11. (David DiMinno | The Star-Herald)
