Eastern will host a Veterans Day Commemoration Ceremony Thursday to honor past and present members of the U.S armed forces. The ceremony will take place in front of Old Main at 10:30 a.m.

Community residents are invited to join a host of individuals and groups, including student veterans of Eastern and other staff and faculty veterans.

Ann Boehlefeld, an Eastern alumnae and veteran, will be speaking at the ceremony along with Jon Crask, a community veteran. President William Perry said by honoring both, we honor the veterans, past and present, which they symbolically represent.

Perry is also scheduled to speak and said ceremonies like this are a great way for students to show their appreciation to all veterans.

“EIU’s past, present, and future are intertwined. The opportunities to come together to honor EIU and Charleston veterans, and veterans everywhere who have served loyally, bring us closer together and build bonds that enable us to continue to work together,” Perry said.

Eastern’s Wind Symphony will perform “A Call to Duty: A Veterans Day Tribute” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The performance will be in the Doudna Fine Arts Center’s Dvorak Concert Hall.

All active-duty military members and veterans will be admitted free to the concert. Tickets for audience members are $5 and $3 for Eastern employees, senior citizens and students.

Tickets can be purchased at the Doudna Fine Arts Center Box Office, by telephone at 217-581-3110, or online at http://www.doudnatix.com.

Allison Twaits can be reached

at 581-7942

or [email protected].