Ceremonies in Santa Fe and Angel Fire will be among Northern New Mexico observances of Veterans Day on Sunday.

The city of Santa Fe and VFW Post 2951 will honor all veterans, servicemen and servicewomen at the 2007 Veterans Day Parade.

The parade will begin a 10 a.m. Sunday at the Masonic Lodge, 431 Paseo de Peralta, and make its way around the Plaza and then to the Bataan Memorial Building, where a ceremony will take place at 11 a.m.

"We want to invite as many veterans as possible to take part," said Sevastian Gurulé, the city's constituent liaison officer.

The activities will include a 21-gun salute, a flyover by military aircraft and the playing of taps. The keynote address will be delivered by Army Reserve Capt. A.J. Salazar, who recently completed two tours of duty in Iraq.

In a separate event in Santa Fe, Duck and Cover Coalition, a Santa Fe group, will install the Iraq/Afghanistan Memorial on the Plaza for Veterans Day. The memorial is a series of 3-by-6-foot panels containing the names, faces and military biographies of U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

At Angel Fire, New Mexico State Parks will recognize the sacrifices of veterans in a ceremony at Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park.

Highlights of the Veterans Day events at Angel Fire will include a dedication of the renovations and new amphitheater at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park, a presentation by Farrell Udell of the Veterans Administration, a tour of the new facilities and a flyover by the National Guard.

"Veterans need to be leaders in welcoming home our new veterans," Tom Turnbull, park manager and himself a Vietnam veteran, said. "It is up to us to let no veteran ever stand alone again."

The ceremony, a collaboration among staff at the park, the David Westphall Veterans Foundation and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 318, features the theme "New Beginnings and Transformations."

State Parks began renovation of the chapel at the park in April 2007. The $650,000 project was designed by Santa Fe architect Ted Luna, who also was the original architect of the Memorial chapel. The work includes replacing the mechanical system in the building, reroofing, new doors and stucco and construction of a new amphitheater next door.

The renovation of the visitor center, which includes input from the veterans community, is scheduled to start in the spring of 2008.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial was originally established in 1971 by Victor and Jeanne Westphall to honor their son, Lt. David Westphall, who was killed in Vietnam in May 1968.

The memorial became New Mexico's 33rd state park on Veterans Day in 2005 and is the only state park in the country solely dedicated to Vietnam veterans.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park is located on U.S. 64 just north of the intersection with N.M. 434 in Angel Fire.

For more information call 575-377-6900 or visit www.nmparks.com.

VETERANS DAY CLOSINGS

On Monday, hours and schedules of some offices and institutions will be affected by this weekend’s observance of Veterans Day, including the following:

• State, city, county and federal government offices will be closed Monday.
• Post offices will be closed Monday, and only express mail will be delivered.
• All Santa Fe Public Libraries will be closed.
• Fort Marcy Recreation Complex and the Genoveva Chavez Community Center will be closed. Salvador Perez Fitness Center will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe will be open from sunrise to sunset.
• The Santa Fe Trails bus system will be limited to a Sunday schedule on Monday. Routes available are 1, 2 and 4. Hours of operation will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• City garbage collection will follow regular schedule. The transfer station and the Caja del Rio landfill will be open Monday.
• The New Mexican’s main business office will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.