As it has for more than 60 years, the Pembroke Veterans Day parade will take to the streets once again at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

It’s not the first of the Veterans Day celebrations in Robeson County. Fairmont and Pembroke will be the first to honor veterans in ceremonies, doing so today.

Fairmont’s ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the fire hall.

Pembroke will host a ceremony at 5 p.m. at the recreational complex on N.C. 711. The names of local people who have been killed in war, declared missing in action or held as prisoners of war will be read, event Chairman Lucille Locklear said.

Following the ceremony there will be singing and dancing for the fall concert in the Cruisin’ Pembroke series.

“It’s our second annual fall concert and we’re going to feature the Unity Quartet and the Lumbee ambassadors, John Lakota Locklear, Beyond the Veil Assembly of God choir and David Locklear,” Locklear said.

Sponsored by the town and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Pembroke’s parade carries on the holiday Wednesday.

“It’s been a tradition for them since World War II,” said VFW Chairman Greg Cummings. “This is probably one of the oldest parades in North Carolina. ... It was put together by the veterans when they all came back from war.”

The parade starts at 10 a.m. near the Pembroke Elementary School and ends by Givens Performing Arts Center.

“It shows our patriotism back to the nation,” Cummings said. “... I like seeing the smiles and laughter along the parade route. That’s what it’s all about.”

At 11 a.m., there will be a ceremony at the Pembroke Town Park. The VFW’s annual chicken and fish plate sale will be from noon to 3 p.m. at the post on Union Chapel Road.

In Lumberton, the chapter of the Disabled American Veterans will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Veterans Park. Retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Deese will speak.

The town of Rowland’s celebration will also be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Rowland train depot.

Veterans Day started in France at the end of World War I. At 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany became effective. The following year then-U.S. President Woodrow Wilson declared a commemoration of Armistice Day, where businesses would close by 11 a.m. and people would attend parades and ceremonies to honor the veterans of World War I. Congress made it a national holiday in 1926, according to the U.S Veterans Administration.

Following World War II and the Korean War, Congress in 1954 changed the holiday’s name to Veterans Day to include all veterans.