Sentinel staff report–
The Veterans Community Center plans to host a free Veterans Day concert and flag retiring ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
The Ben Ali Shrine Band will perform a free, one-hour concert at the Veterans Community Center according to a social media announcement on the center’s Facebook page. The concert will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a lunch offering beginning at 12 p.m. The event is open to the public. Hotdogs are $5.
Following the concert, a flag retiring ceremony will take place beginning at 1:45 p.m.
Under the baton of Director Tonya Whennen, the band will play a variety of patriotic and popular favorites in observance of Veterans Day. Donation envelopes in support of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California will also be available on-site. Donations are voluntary.
The Ben Ali Shrine band has performed concerts at the Veterans Community Center in the past, including recently, last Memorial Day.
The band’s history dates back to 1922, highlighted by “positive community outreach and support of the Shriners Hospitals for Children.”
Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California treats children with complex medical conditions, providing care to families throughout Northern California, the western United States and portions of Mexico and Canada. The care “promotes healing that otherwise would represent an enormous economic burden to affected families,” the press release states.
The Veterans Community Center serves as a community gathering place for veterans of all branches of the U.S. military, according to the center’s website. The building offers “a place for all vets, past and present, to come and gather among their peers … and relive their various experiences during military life and just life in general.”
The Veterans Community Center is located at 6921 Sylvan Rd.
