AKRON — The community is invited to attend a free Veterans Day program at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School.

The program will feature musical selections by band and choir students, a flag folding ceremony and 21-gun salute by the American Legion Post 49 of Kosciusko County, a guest speaker and a photo montage of local veterans.

Master Sergeant Larry Burkhart from the North Webster American Legion will be the guest speaker at the event. Burkhart will share stories from his experiences in the Korean War and Vietnam War.

Veterans from all branches of the military are encouraged to attend. Anyone with a photo of a veteran they would like to see in the slideshow can email it to Sara Thomas at [email protected]. Be sure to include the veteran’s name, rank, and branch of service. Photos need to be sent in by Nov. 4.

“It’s an important holiday for our students to understand. We felt like doing a Veterans Day program would be a good way to honor our veterans in the area and to also teach our students the importance of Veterans Day and why we celebrate it,” said Thomas, a seventh grade language arts teacher.

The program will be held in the Tippecanoe Valley Middle School gym. Veterans are welcome to wear their uniforms to the program. Students are encouraged to wear red, white and blue to school that day.