9/11 ceremony planned

Remembrances from local military veterans will be the focus of a Saturday morning ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil that changed the nation forever.

John Chiles, who serves as commander of Holton’s Mary L. Bair American Legion Post 44 and is also a member of Holton Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1367, said three Jackson County residents who served in the nation’s military forces will be the guest speakers at Saturday’s ceremony, set for 11 a.m. at Linscott Park in Holton.

“I wanted to go with local speakers because I wanted those who came to know the people who would be speaking,” Chiles said.

Speakers will include:

• Bill Elmer, a former member of the Jackson County Commission and commander of Bernie Deghand American Legion Post 423 in Mayetta.

• Nancy Fontaine, a rural Holton resident and retired veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who was on active duty in Washington, D.C., at the time of the terrorist attacks.

• Erich Campbell, a retired veteran of the U.S. Army now serving as a magistrate judge for the Second Kansas Judicial District.

An honor guard is expected to participate in the ceremony, and the public is invited to participate.

Representatives of the VFW post also plan to stand with U.S. flags at the intersection of U.S. Highway 75 and Kansas Highway 16 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. that day, Chiles added. The post invites anyone interested in participating in the flag line to do so, and flags will be available for them to hold, it was reported.